President Biden’s first 100 days have been overshadowed at times by former President Donald Trump, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the 2022 and 2024 elections as the latter teases a third White House run.
After this month being acquitted on House-approved impeachment charges for a second time, Trump, last weekend, ventured out of Mar-a-Lago, his luxurious Palm Beach haven in Florida, to deliver a raucous keynote address at the annual, base-rallying Conservative Political Action Committee Conference.
And while the Biden White House tried to counterprogram his lengthy remarks with a briefing call for reporters on the newly emergency-authorized one-dose Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, Trump used the 90-minute speech in Orlando to position himself as the Republican Party’s standard-bearer and allude to a potential 2024 White House campaign.
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Trump’s remarks were received with thunderous applause from loyalists and set off wild speculation about his future, two indications of the former reality TV star and real estate mogul’s enduring influence with conservative voters and his narrative-stealing impact on the national stage. But there are also warning signs for Biden administration officials and Democrats more generally who are looking ahead to the 2022 and 2024 cycles in which they will have to defend the White House and Congress.
Republican strategist John Feehery didn’t believe Trump was “purposefully overshadowing” his successor. “He is just better for ratings,” Feehery told the Washington Examiner.
For Feehery, “the media loves to hate Trump because it is better for ratings and for clicks.”
“The media hates to love Biden because he can barely communicate and they are embarrassed by their overt support of him,” he said.
Some pundits predicted that Trump’s lack of Twitter access would zap him of much of his sway. But he has relied on press releases issued by his post-presidency office and political organization, Save America, to remain relevant and stay in the national conversation. His CPAC appearance, too, was broadcast live and in full by Fox News before it was discussed and dissected on the other cable news networks.
But Tom Cochran, a digital alumnus from former President Barack Obama’s administration and now a partner at public affairs firm 720 Strategies, insisted Trump’s “megaphone” out of the White House is “a fraction of what it was.”
“The attention he’s receiving now is purely from his base,” Cochran said. “I say, let’s not focus on Trump versus Biden, and address the fact that there’s a global pandemic still raging and major economic problems with massive unemployment. One person is in charge now, and the other is a private citizen.”
The Republican infighting over the role Trump should have in the party has weakened its cohesion ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, a cycle in which experts say the GOP should perform well based on historic trends and structural advantages. Trump has complicated matters as well by announcing he will endorse primary challengers to Republicans who backed his impeachment and Senate conviction and by encouraging supporters to donate to Save America rather than the Republican National Committee and other party-aligned groups.
Trump might not have to do much to make an impact, Cochran said, because “typically, regardless of the administration, the midterms don’t go well.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki downplayed Trump’s comeback from her briefing room podium on Monday as pressure mounts on Biden to hold his first solo question-and-answer session with reporters.
“President Biden just decisively beat Donald Trump a few months ago. That’s why we’re all here having so much fun together,” she said.
Biden is concentrating on keeping his campaign commitments, including ending the pandemic, rebuilding the economy, and reintroducing the country as a world leader in international politics, according to Psaki. Biden is not concerned about putting “time, energy, and effort” into a 2024 bid because there was “plenty of time for that,” she added.
“I think we’re going to spend more of our time focused on communicating a better agenda for the American people than responding to criticism from the former president,” she said.
While Trump’s been ensconced at Mar-a-Lago, Biden’s been relatively quiet in the executive mansion. He’s spent limited time taking questions directly from the press, a situation exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions on campus.
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Trump aides promoted the former president’s speech at CPAC last weekend as a platform for him to cement his status as the Republican Party’s stalwart, much to the chagrin of potential 2024 GOP nominee contenders. Trump used the perch to prognosticate that Biden would be a one-term president, particularly criticizing him over his immigration policies.
“Actually, as you know, they just lost the White House. Who knows, I may even decide to beat them for a third time, OK?” he told the ginned-up crowd.
