When former President Donald J. Trump goes on trial in Manhattan on Monday, President Biden and his allies probably won’t say much.
For Democrats, the fact that a former president is being prosecuted for covering up a sex scandal related to the 2016 election campaign speaks for itself. Media coverage will be constant, especially if Mr. Trump takes the stance he has floated as a possibility. And while Mr. Trump faces up to eight weeks in court, Mr. Biden will be on the campaign trail employing a “Rose Garden strategy” as he governs from the White House, a contrast that the president’s advisers hope the is received positively by voters.
The approach could be bolstered by the fact that Mr. Trump will appear in a court case involving salacious details and questionable financial maneuvers while Mr. Biden deals with a conflict in the Middle East.
Mr. Biden and his campaign have not publicly commented on the criminal charges against Mr. Trump for fear of unduly influencing the cases or fueling Mr. Trump’s repeated claims — made without evidence — that Mr. Biden orchestrated the charges.
Many of the wealthy outside Democratic groups supporting the Biden campaign are following a similar path. Part of their calculation, he said, is that ads promoting Mr. Biden’s record or arguing that Mr. Trump poses a threat to democracy resonate better with voters than highlighting Mr. Trump’s legal problems. Another consideration is that the Manhattan case, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, cannot be easily explained in a sound bite or a 30-second commercial.
“I just don’t think it’s the strongest argument for voters in the end,” said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist who runs a pro-Biden super PAC called Unite the Country. “Campaigns have limited resources, and you spend those resources in a way that moves the most votes.”
Mr. Schale’s group plans to spend about $40 million later this spring on an advertising campaign in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that will focus on Mr. Biden’s accomplishments and attack Mr. Trump as anti-democratic.
The Biden campaign declined to comment on its strategy, and the main pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward, did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did a spokesman for Mr. Trump’s campaign.
When Mr Trump goes on trial on Monday, he will be the first US president to face criminal charges. He is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to influence the 2016 election. The case is one of four criminal charges he faces, although it may be the only one that will be heard before Election Day. Mr. Trump has denied guilt in all cases.
“In two days, the entire world will witness the start of the first-ever Biden trial,” Trump said at a rally in eastern Pennsylvania on Saturday evening, baselessly suggesting that the president had made up the charges.
The other argument that the Biden campaign and its affiliated groups should focus on other areas is that there doesn’t appear to be much voter interest in the process. A New York Times/Siena College poll found that only a quarter of voters said they were paying “a lot” of attention to the Manhattan case. Other polls have shown that voters consider this case to be the least serious charge against Mr. Trump.
However, Democratic groups certainly won’t ignore the process. Those who specialize in “quick response” communications plan to monitor Mr. Trump’s behavior in court and at his frequent post-court news conferences, as well as deliver their messages on social media.
“Whenever we see Trump in court, he is one of the worst, most undisciplined versions of himself,” said Brandon Weathersby, a spokesman for the liberal opposition research group American Bridge. “He is combative towards judges, prosecutors and members of the press. During the trial, he spread swear words on social media. And so we think our job in all of this is to highlight those moments so that voters can kind of stand out from the crowd.”
While Mr. Trump sits in court this week, Mr. Biden will campaign in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, with stops in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Thursday. That’s the kind of split-screen that Democrats believe will encourage them.
There is, of course, no guarantee that Mr. Biden will not be tempted to comment on the process when speaking to voters and the news media. The president has never been seen as the most disciplined campaigner.
And Democrats may change their thinking about whether it makes sense to highlight Mr. Trump’s legal troubles if he were to be convicted in the Manhattan case. Some polls show that swing-state voters could be distracted if Mr. Trump enters Election Day as a felon.
The Jan. 6 federal election interference case against Mr. Trump over his efforts to retain power could also change how Democrats approach the issue if it goes to trial. This case is considered the most direct example of Democrats’ argument that Mr. Trump is a threat to democracy.
But for now, many Democrats believe Mr. Trump’s frequent presence in a Manhattan courtroom will do their job for them.
“The Republican Party is currently led by the most extreme members of the party, and they are led by Donald Trump,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chairwoman of the House Democratic campaign arm. “The trial reinforces extremism and shows who is currently at the helm of the Republican Party.”
Lisa Lerer, Ruth Igielnik and Michael Gold contributed reporting.
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2024-04-15 14:03:19
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