In a barrage of new television advertisements airing across the country, President Trump and the GOP are attempting to tie presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden to the civil unrest plaguing the nation’s cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death in late May.
“Joe Biden’s supporters are fighting to defund police departments,” reads the text on one ad over footage of rioters torching storefronts in cities such as Minneapolis. “Violent crime has exploded. You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”
It’s the latest messaging pivot after months of plummeting poll numbers and internal feuding over strategy. Attempts to question Biden’s mental state have largely fallen flat with most voters and possibly offended those over the age of 65, who now are less likely to support a Republican for president this November than at any time in decades. Nor has the former vice president’s son, Hunter Biden, seen much of a spotlight in attack ads as voter concerns over the coronavirus pandemic overshadow any questions of Biden family political corruption.
Instead, Trump, as best seen by his Friday night Mount Rushmore speech, is committed to framing the election around debates over monuments, urban crime, and the legacy of the nation’s founding. Whether voters see Biden as synonymous with radical members of the Democratic Party remains to be seen.
And so far, some limited data implies that people remain more concerned with stopping the coronavirus from spreading further than a stronger response to violent activists. A Google trends breakdown of searches from the first of June to July 6 shows the public looking for information on the coronavirus 4 times more than anything related to the police, whereas searches for “statue” or “antifa” remain nearly unchanged in over a month.
But Republican strategists say that Biden’s relative silence on rising crime or “cancel culture” will assist in bringing voters who supported Trump in 2016 back to their home with the GOP.
“There’s no question that Hillary Clinton was a foil and carried Trump to victory in 2016. This election is different, of course. But his supporters say, ‘he’s the only thing standing between us and the barbarians at the gate,’ and I’ve just never heard language like that from voters before,” said GOP strategist Brendan Steinhauser. “And these people are 50-50 suburban voters. They notice crime is going up. There’s a sense of ‘we’re under siege, our culture is under siege.’ What I think people in cities and suburbs are saying to Biden is ‘OK, that’s good, we’re with you, Joe, but what are you doing to speak out against this stuff?’ And folks in suburban communities, they get their news from local news stations and what do they see? They see left-wing mayors leading the effort on goofy policies.”
The Left’s push to dismantle traditional law enforcement and question the practice of honoring past presidents such as George Washington have given many Republicans some hope that Trump still has a chance. On Monday, Trump’s approval rating hit a near all-time low at 38% in Gallup, down 11 points from an all-time high in early May. Although his standing among Republicans rose from 85% to 91%, his approval among independents dropped 6 points to 33%.
But as with all things related to Trump, Republicans say, nothing is set in stone.
“The campaign doesn’t really start until Biden picks a running mate,” said GOP strategist John Feehery. “Law and order works with turning out the base, and the Democrats have moved farther to the left than any other political party in our national history.”
Biden, meanwhile, has been careful to avoid stepping into the cultural debates playing out across cable television and newspaper op-ed pages, often seeking a middle ground on the issues rather than aligning himself with his party’s activists.
“There is a difference between reminders and remembrances of history,” Biden said last week during a press conference. “The idea of comparing whether or not George Washington owned slaves or Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and somebody who was in rebellion committing treason … trying to take down the Union and keep slavery. I think there’s a distinction.”
But that balancing act may become harder and harder as his potential vice presidential picks begin weighing in on the issues. On Sunday, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, reportedly on Biden’s running mate shortlist, said she’d be willing to “listen to” those who believe government monuments to George Washington should be taken down.
