Well that didn’t take long.
The overnight polling must’ve come back worse than anticipated for the White House, Save Jerseyans, because President Joe Biden is reportedly already hedging on his ‘MAGA threat’ talking points which he took to a whole new level of crazy during Thursday night’s bizarre Philadelphia address:
BIDEN walking it back: "I don't consider any Trump supporter to be a threat. I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence and fails to condemn violence when its used, refuse to acknowledge an election has been won… That is a threat to democracy."
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 2, 2022
Dishonesty? Dementia? Both?
Of course, Biden is on record saying EXACTLY what he’s now denying, and the record extends back before last night’s performance:
Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 2, 2022
Here’s how I see it:
That wasn’t a speech designed to persuade. It was a speech written to (1) divide Republicans and (2) motivate Democrats.
Democrats are already more motivated post-Dobbs; Biden probably gains very little by doubling down on a message with limited appeal. By attacking Republicans with hyper-personal language, it seems more likely that Republicans will emerge from last night’s speech more united in their negative feelings towards the Democrat incumbent.
We’ll see what happens! But I think another backfire is a real possibility here.
