Why Biden's campaign isn't celebrating Trump's felony conviction

Ipsos SA

03/06/2024 19:25

By Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly
       June 3(Reuters) - In the wake of Donald Trump's historic
hush-money conviction, Democrats are wrestling with how central
Trump's felonies should be to President Joe Biden's reelection
campaign.
    So far, the answer is "not very."   
        While most Democrats were thrilled to see Trump
convicted last Thursday on 34 felony counts, many - including
top officials in Biden's campaign - are taking a "wait and see"
approach to advertising and new strategies. They want to see
polls and voter feedback before they react strongly to this
unprecedented moment in U.S. history. 
    In more than a dozen interviews, Biden campaign officials
and Democrats involved in campaigns in battleground states told
Reuters they think whatever political pain Trump endures will
largely happen organically due to intense media attention and
without the need for them to amplify and frame the issue. 
    If polls in the coming days and weeks show the verdict is
really swaying voters, they may pivot. 
    "Talk to me again in 10 days, when the headlines go away,"
said one senior Democrat. "We could see some independents who
can't vote for a felon move to Biden, or we could see a surge of
soft Biden supporters who feel this is overreach move to Trump.
We just don't know yet.
    Some early polls, including from Reuters/Ipsos, show a small
but significant chunk of Republicans saying the conviction makes
it less likely that they will vote for Trump in November. 
    Biden himself might strike harder on Monday at a private,
off-camera campaign fundraising event in Greenwich, Connecticut,
his first political event since the conviction. 
        Biden's son Hunter was 
    in court
     on Monday for a criminal case against him over his purchase
and possession of a revolver in 2018 in a trial that Republicans
could highlight in their own election messages.
    The soft focus approach toward Trump so far is frustrating
some Biden supporters who want to use the conviction to
highlight a message that Trump is unfit for office, including
outside political action committee; they want Biden to use his
bully pulpit to press the case against his Republican
challenger.
    "I think that this needs to be tattooed on Donald Trump's
forehead that he is a convicted felon," said Jeff Timmer, senior
adviser at the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group formed by
former Republican strategists. Biden should include the felony
in his opening statement on the first presidential debate
scheduled for June 27, he said. 
    MoveOn.org, a progressive advocacy group, has already given
away some 50,000 "Trump is a felon" stickers, 10 times the
amount of any similar giveaway in years, said Britt Jacovich, a
MoveOn spokesperson.
    "This has been one of our most energizing moments for MoveOn
members all year," Jacovich said.    
    
    NO 'GLOATING' FOR BIDEN
    Last week Biden, a Democrat, called Trump and Republicans
"reckless" and "dangerous" for suggesting the jury trial had
been rigged, just before pivoting to a new, surprise Israeli
ceasefire plan, snatching some of the media spotlight from
Trump's conviction. 
    His focus on supporting the jury system makes sense, given
the limited number of persuadable voters in the U.S., some say. 
    “He’s not going to change one mind by saying anything much
more than the jury has spoken and I have always respected the
jury system,” said Democratic strategist James Carville. 
    Biden spent the weekend at his vacation home in Rehoboth
Beach, Delaware, biking, attending church and avoiding shouted
questions from reporters over whether Trump should be
disqualified from the election. He was with his son Hunter.
    "The Democrats, particularly Biden because it's not his
brand, don't want to seem to be gloating (over Trump)," said Ray
La Raja, a political science professor at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst. That gloating "could be used to
counter-mobilize Trump supporters." 
    Enraged by his conviction, Trump supporters have flooded
websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent
retribution. Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of
the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed
insurrection.
    Biden's reelection campaign has told supporters that Trump
can only be beaten at the ballot box, and has asked supporters
for money, pointing out that Trump's campaign said he raised
$52.8 million after the jury verdict. 
    "We need your help to fight back and keep him out of the
White House," the campaign messaged on Sunday.
    The Biden campaign declined to comment on this story, and
did not provide details on early fundraising figures since the
conviction. 

 (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly; Editing by
Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)
 ((jarrett.renshaw@thomsonreuters.com; (646) 223-6193;))