Biden tells donors: ‘If Trump wasn’t running I’m not sure I’d be running. We cannot let him win’
...warning that democracy is “more at risk in 2024” and that the former president and his allies are out to “destroy” democratic institutions.
The president was using a trio of fundraisers to caution against what might happen should his predecessor again claim control of the White House, noting that Trump has described himself as his supporters’ “retribution” and has vowed to root out “vermin” in the country.
Biden’s forceful rhetoric came as Trump, the current GOP front-runner, who tried to overturn the 2020 election he lost and is facing criminal charges connected to those efforts, attempted over the weekend to turn the tables by calling Biden the “destroyer of American democracy.”
This is right out of the Soviet-Russian playbook: Whatever you are charged with, however truthfully, charge your opponents with the same thing.
Later, Biden was asked by reporters whether he would be running if Trump wasn’t and gave a slightly different comment, saying, “I expect so, but look, he is running and I have to run.”
He was asked if he would drop out if Trump did and said, “No, not now.”
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Biden's comments are not good for him. If it is reasonable that opposition to him among Trump supporters can be solidified then these comments solidify opposition. Some Trump supporters would move on from Trump to Anybody But Biden. They resent Biden for taking Trump from them. Now Biden's saying he's only for sure running again to deprive them again of Trump. A better way to put it is that these comments will motivate Trump supporters to vote.