Biden’s dark speech declaring war on half of America was about one thing only — trying to bait Trump

Biden’s dark speech declaring war on half of America was about one thing only — trying to bait Trump. By John Podhoretz.

Biden wants Trump angry, and loud, and silencing every other voice but his own.

It’s not an accident that Biden’s rise and the Democratic enthusiasm surge has come in tandem with Trump once again at the top of the American news agenda over the past six weeks. Biden knows he won in 2020 by successfully making the election a referendum on Trump. Nothing would make him happier than having the 2022 election continue in that vein.

For that to happen, he needs Trump and his Trumpies to be seduced into yelling and screaming and tweeting and arguing that the 2020 election needs to be re-run and that people who stormed the Capitol need to be apologized to and whatever other damn-fool argle-bargle comes out of their mouths and fingers. …

The latest Wall Street Journal poll shows that independents, who favored Republicans by 12 points in March when Trump was out of the news, now prefer Democrats by 3 points. That’s a 15-point swing. Some of it is likely due to discomfort with the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. But most of it is due to the fact that TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMPIE TRUMP.

It also inflames Democrats who might otherwise find voting in the midterms a depressing prospect at a time of near double-digit inflation, a worsening border crisis, and rising crime. Biden needs Democrats fired up.

And nothing fires them up like getting a chance to slam Trump. If the president can make Democrats think a vote in November 2022 is a vote against Trump he can eliminate the enthusiasm gap between the parties (which almost always favors the one out of power), reverse political gravity, and win a most unexpected triumph.

Trump has said forever that his greatest political lesson came from Roy Cohn — never allow an attack to go unanswered. That’s exactly what Biden is counting on.

Don’t take the bait, Mr Trump.

Let Mr Biden wallow in his gross unforced error:

hat-tip Stephen Neil