Biden seeks to boomerang ‘are you better off’ argument against Trump
by Brett Samuels - 03/22/24 6:00 AM ET
Former President Trump and his campaign’s pitch to voters is simple: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
But when Trump posed the question himself on Truth Social this week, he was met with derision from Democrats and other critics.
“March 2020 was famously a great time for everyone,” Sen Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter
“Again, we were literally hoarding toilet paper on this date 4 years ago,” Alyssah Farah Griffin, who was the White House communications director for Trump in 2020 but has since broken sharply with the ex-president, wrote on X.
The Biden campaign on Thursday launched a digital ad opening with Trump’s “are you better off” Truth Social post and featuring footage of patients in hospitals, doctors in protective gear and Americans stocking up on groceries. The ad closes with the word, “Yes.”
The “are you better off” framing is traditional for candidates running against an incumbent, but it may not be as straightforward for Trump, who was in office four years ago when the coronavirus pandemic was gripping the country.
Polling has shown voters still trust Trump more than President Biden on issues like the economy and immigration. But the Biden campaign has been eager to remind voters that four years ago, financial markets were sinking, the death toll in the United States was spiking and Americans were urged to remain indoors and limit in-person interaction.
“I hope everyone in the country takes a moment to think back to what it was like in March of 2020 – COVID had come to America and Trump was president,” Biden said at a Wednesday fundraiser in Dallas, invoking Trump’s social media post.
“Hospital emergency rooms were overcrowded. First Responders were risking their lives. Nurses were wearing garbage bags for protection,” he continued. “Morgues were being set up all outside, not just in the hospital. And loved ones are dying all alone.”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4548296-biden-seeks-to-boomerang-are-you-better-off-argument-against-trump/
