President Biden crossed the Potomac River Tuesday night to stump for Democrat Terry McAuliffe, focusing his remarks about former President Donald Trump just ahead of next week’s tight Virginia’s gubernatorial election that will serve as a referendum on his ten-month presidency amid his dismal approving ratings.
Biden, headlining the rally held at Highlands Park in Arlington, a 15-minute drive from the White House, used the opportunity to attack Trump, mentioning his name 24 times in the span of his 15-minute incoherent speech and attempting to tie McAuliffe’s Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin to his former campaign nemesis.
“How well do you, Terry opponent? Just remember this. I ran against Donald Trump,” Biden said. “Terry is running an acolyte of Donald Trump.”
The president then taunted Youngkin for his refusal to have Trump publicly join him alongside in campaigns despite privately “embracing” the former president. Biden then boasted how big-name national Democrats, such as his wife Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama, and Stacey Abrams supporting McAuliffe and recently joining him in the campaign trail.
“Terry’s opponent doesn’t like to talk about how — very much now, but to win the Republican nomination, he embraced Donald Trump. He started his campaign by saying that the number one issue in the race was his call to — call for election integrity… But now, he doesn’t want to talk about Trump anymore. Well, I do!” Biden said.
The president refused to mention his social welfare and infrastructure legislation that is still being negotiated and stalled by Biden’s own party infighting, and instead dived into launching attacks on Trump as well as briefly relaunching his personal vendettas against two Republican Governors — Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas and the Republican Party.
While not mentioning DeSantis by name, Biden touched briefly to falsely blame the Florida governor for causing the deaths of Floridians over refusal to impose strict COVID restrictions in the Sunshine State during the Delta variant spike. He also touched on the Texas governor, refusing not to say Abbott’s name, only to briefly lambaste Texas’ controversial abortion law as an “assault on woman’s right to choose.”
“It has been the Democratic governors who have led. You’ve made this progress because you’ve had the courage and the wisdom to reject the very extremism that has taken over the Republican Party all across America. Think of it Republican Party, nationally, is for nothing. Not a joke. Nothing,” Biden stated.
“Just look around what’s happening with the Governor of Texas and Florida. The assault on woman’s right to choose. The lives lost to this pandemic could have been saved,” Biden added.
DeSantis’ spokeswoman dismissed Biden’s latest attack, noting his obsession with attacking the Florida governor and Republicans, stating that the president can’t talk about his own leadership plagued with “failed policies” and an “all-time low approval rating.
“D”e to inflation, mass illegal migration, unemployment, shortages, the supply chain crisis, more deaths from COVID than last year, and humiliation in Afghanistan, BiBiden’spproval rating is at an all-time low. But instead of reevaluating his administration’s failed policies and trying a different approach, Biden is clumsily attempting to shift the blame to governors he disagrees with,” Christina Pushaw said in an email statement.
“Biden is obsessed with attacking Governor DeSantis because the Governor stands up for individual rights against federal tyranny, and his competent leadership makes Biden look even worse by comparison. A president should take responsibility; Biden does the opposite, and Americans are worse off for it. But Florida remains the oasis of freedom, with the lowest COVID infection rate in the country, thanks to Governor DeSantis,” Pushaw added.
Biden would continue to use the Democrats playbook that McAuliffe has heavily utilized in recent days — closely tying the Republican opponent to Trump instead of talking about issues. The president’s rant, filled with false claims, hit Trump on everything from his predecessor’s economic record, claims of a stolen 2020 election, and declaring that he caused the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot to transpire.
One of BiBiden’sarsh yet disgusting attacks towards Youngkin came at the end of his remarks when he compared the Republican candidate to extremists.
“Extremism can come in many forms. Can come in the rage of a mob driven to assault the capital. It can come in a smile and a fleece vest. Either way, the big lie is still a big lie,” Biden said, referencing Youngkin’s trademark vest that has become his fashion trademark piece while campaigning across the Commonwealth-State.
The off-year election in Virginia after a presidential election is closely watched and considered a bellwether on politics that would give a glimpse into upcoming midterm elections. Virginia has trended blue in recent years as Republicans haven’t on any statewide office in over a decade. However, recent polls show the race to be a dead-heat, despite Biden easily carrying the state by 10 points just a year ago.
The tightening polls are having Democrats worrying. Last week, a poll from Monmouth University showed the race at deadlocked, with both candidates garnishing 46 percent of support among registered voters. The latest poll from USA Today released right ahead of TuTuesday’sight rally showed McAuliffe narrowly leads with 46 percent over Youngkin by less than one point.
BiBiden’spproval rating has nosedived following his botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan late Summer, but it’s not only underwater nationally. In Virginia, Biden’s rating has also nosedived with the same Monmouth poll also showed that more than half of voters disapprove of his job as president.
2020 Election2022 MidtermChristina PushawDemocratsGlenn YoungkinGov. Ron DeSantisJanuary 6thPresident BidenPresident TrumpTerry McAuliffeeVirginiaVirginia Governor Race
