President Joe Biden is taking a new approach to attack former President Donald Trump, using a reversal of Ronald Reagan’s famous question “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” to remind voters of life during Trump’s tenure.
Biden’s campaign is making a concerted effort to highlight Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues, aiming to contrast it with Biden’s own presidency. During a recent fundraiser in Dallas, Biden responded to Trump’s question about whether Americans are better off than four years ago by vividly describing the state of the country in March 2020, under Trump’s leadership, amidst the pandemic.
He recounted shortages of medical supplies, overwhelmed hospitals, economic turmoil, and social unrest, contrasting it with the progress made during his own presidency. Biden’s campaign followed up with a digital ad reinforcing this message.
At another fundraiser in Houston, Biden humorously criticized Trump’s pandemic response, referencing Trump’s controversial suggestion of using bleach as a cure for Covid-19. Biden’s remarks underscored his campaign’s strategy to remind voters of Trump’s actions during his presidency.
The Biden campaign aims to contrast Biden’s leadership with Trump’s, highlighting the challenges faced under Trump’s administration while emphasizing progress made under Biden’s presidency. As the race heats up, Biden seeks to convince undecided voters and those nostalgic for the Trump era that the country is better off with him in office.
Biden reminded a crowd of donors that Trump suggested Americans “inject bleach” as a cure.
“I think he must have done it,” he said, according to pool reports from the off-camera fundraiser, prompting laughter. “He told us, ‘Hit the body with the UV light,’ which I’m confident he does.”
Trump made those comments early in the pandemic in April 2020 during a televised press briefing at the White House, questioning whether disinfectants could be used to treat the virus and musing whether there’s “a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning.”
At the same briefing, Trump said, “There’s been a rumor that – you know, a very nice rumor – that you go outside in the sun or you have heat and it does have an effect on other viruses,” before asking coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx “to speak to the medical doctors to see if there’s any way that you can apply light and heat to cure, you know, if you could.”
