President Joe Biden’s White House fired its opening shot against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night as the possibility of a rematch of the 2020 election loomed.
“Donald Trump failed America,” read the tweet from Biden’s official White House Twitter account.
The tweet was posted even while Trump was in the middle of his speech announcing he would run for the presidency in 2024.
The attached video begins with Trump saying, “Nobody has ever done what we’ve done in the last four years.”
It then shifts into a campaign-style attack ad with media comments and cherry-picked Trump quotes under the headings “Rigging Economy for Rich,” “Worst Jobs Record Since the Depression,” “Attacking Health Care,” “Coddling Extremists,” “Attacking Women’s Rights” and “Inciting a Violent Mob.”
The video ends with the words, “Trump failed America.”
Donald Trump failed America. pic.twitter.com/fylyocYcse
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 16, 2022
On Tuesday, after months of speculation about whether he would run for president in 2024, Trump declared he would seek to regain the White House after losing to Biden in 2020.
“America’s comeback starts right now,” he said during his announcement.
TRUMP: "America's comeback starts right now." pic.twitter.com/sjgRSDq5SZ
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 16, 2022
“Two years ago, we were a great nation and soon we will be a great nation again,” the former president said, according to Newsmax. “The decline of America is being forced upon us by Biden and the radical left lunatics running our government right into the ground. This decline is not a fate we must accept when given the choice.”
Even before Trump began his announcement, Biden’s account posted tweets extolling the infrastructure law that was passed last year and portraying Trump as a man of words and Biden as a man of action.
One year after the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed, it is already delivering progress on once-in-a-generation investments in our roads, bridges, clean water systems, high-speed internet access, and so much more.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 15, 2022
The difference between talking and delivering. pic.twitter.com/TC3X6H3nj0
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 15, 2022
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Biden’s advisers have been preparing for months for a Trump campaign that they expect will heavily focus on attacking the current president, calling their preparations “the Trump project.”
“Today is just the kickoff to what will be a messy Republican primary, with candidates competing to be the most extreme MAGA Republican in the race,” Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. “The DNC will be ready for them all.”
The president has indicated he plans to run for re-election in 2024 but has not issued a formal announcement.
As noted by the Times, Biden feels a particular antipathy for Trump and throughout the final weeks of this year’s midterm elections campaign targeted Trump’s most loyal wing of the Republican Party.
“Nobody has identified more clearly the unique existential threat that Donald Trump poses to the country than Joe Biden,” Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, said before Trump’s announcement. “And nobody else has defeated him.
“So, you know, I think that for us, those are the two North Stars.”
The Times said Democrats are gleaning every possible attack point they can find from Trump’s public comments and actions to prepare for the contest to come.
