Biden moves to show off wins in the shadow of inflation, Trump probe
by Alex Gangitano and Amie Parnes - 08/21/22 5:58 PM ET
President Biden is finally set to take his show on the road.
Biden and administration officials are set to tour the country to promote the sweeping climate, tax and health care bill that the president and Democrats hope will bolster their standing ahead of November’s crucial midterm elections.
But the tour comes in the shadow of stubbornly low approval ratings and questions swirling among Democrats over whether he should run for re-election in 2024, despite some indicators that inflation and prices at the pump are slowly coming down.
Then there’s Donald Trump. An investigation into the former president has Republicans alleging Biden is using his own FBI and Justice Department to target a political enemy, a notion the White House has vehemently tried to tamp down.
“He’s had some tremendous wins, and it seems like he can’t win lately. He can’t catch a break,” said one Democratic donor, who likened the moment to the 2020 campaign when Biden was losing in the polls and being drowned out in the media by his rival.
Biden allies have quietly voiced frustration in recent days that his string of domestic victories has been eclipsed by the headlines on Mar-a-Lago. Each day, more news comes out about the FBI investigation into Trump, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down after a judge indicated on Thursday that he may unseal parts of an affidavit accompanying the search warrant the Justice Department used.
“The reality is that there’s so much news every single day and [Biden’s] accomplishments can sometimes get lost if you’re not out there, talking about that every single day,” said Xochitl Hinojosa, a former communications director at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “If you’re looking at the totality of what he’s accomplished, and especially the Inflation Reduction Act, you have to continue to really talk to voters and spend money to not only persuade voters, but to turn them out around our successes ahead of the midterm elections.”
The president is set to rally voters at a DNC event in Maryland next Thursday and host an event at the White House early next month for a victory lap of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Then, the White House has said he will travel across the country to tout the IRA.
Cabinet members have already started heading out to states for a roadshow on the IRA and have 35 trips to 23 states planned through the end of August.
The president is set to rally voters at a DNC event in Maryland next Thursday and host an event at the White House early next month for a victory lap of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Cabinet members started heading out to states for a roadshow to tout the IRA on Wednesday and have 35 trips to 23 states planned through the end of August.
For Biden, he’ll have to carefully “pick his spots,” said one Democratic strategist, who acknowledged that the coming months would prove to be challenging, particularly with woes about inflation lingering in the backdrop.
“It’s a juggle for Biden,” the strategist said. “I think certainly the president has got the agenda accomplishments that he can point to, but in many ways he’s a bystander and it’s the bystander presidency.”
“He wasn’t the primary driver on the IRA, he wasn’t the primary driver on chips or gun legislation,” they added of Biden’s recent legislative achievements. “But he has a lot he can run on.”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3608298-biden-moves-to-show-off-wins-in-the-shadow-of-inflation-trump-probe/
