According to The Messenger, in a strategic move, President Joe Biden’s campaign is employing a tactic reminiscent of the approach used by conservatives during Biden’s presidency. The campaign is actively highlighting verbal slip-ups and gaffes made by former President Donald Trump, their likely opponent in the 2024 GOP race. The goal is to turn the tables on Trump, who has long used similar tactics to draw attention to Biden’s verbal and physical stumbles.
Recent weeks have seen a consistent release of video clips on social media by the Biden campaign, portraying Trump as appearing “confused” or “slurring” his words. The videos often feature snippets of Trump’s speeches where he makes mistakes, confuses names, or expresses wonder at mundane things. The strategy aims to draw attention to what the Biden team perceives as overlooked gaffes by the 77-year-old Trump, shifting the media narrative away from Biden’s own missteps.
The Biden campaign’s @BidenHQ Twitter account, established for rapid-response social media updates, has been at the forefront of this effort. One post questioned, “Is Donald Trump okay?” alongside a video mashup of Trump’s blunders, including instances where he mistook the leader of Hungary for Turkey and referred to Sioux City as Sioux Falls. The account seizes opportunities to troll Trump, such as when he appeared to confuse Biden with former President Barack Obama at a rally in New Hampshire.
The campaign’s strategy is to use these gaffes to highlight what they describe as Trump’s “erratic and dangerous behavior.” By pointing out inconsistencies and mistakes made by the former president, the Biden team aims to address what they perceive as an imbalance in media coverage between Trump and Biden. The campaign contends that the press often fails to cover both candidates equally, and their effort is a response to this perceived discrepancy.
What the Biden campaign is amplifying is simply examples of Donald Trump’s erratic and dangerous behavior,” a Biden campaign official told The Messenger. “What we’ve seen pretty consistently is an imbalance of coverage when it comes to these things… What we’re doing is filling the void for a press corps that doesn’t seem interested in covering both Donald Trump and Joe Biden the same.”
In addition to showcasing Trump’s verbal slips, the Biden campaign’s social media posts also emphasize aspects of Trump’s rhetoric that they deem controversial, such as his role in overturning the constitutional right to an abortion and promotion of conspiracy theories. The campaign hopes that by amplifying these examples, they can influence media coverage and present a more balanced view of both candidates as they gear up for potential political battles in the 2024 election.
