The Democrats dare to hope that this week will be a study in contrasts. On their side stands President Joe Biden, the veteran statesman, using all his diplomatic experience to stop a third world war breaking out in the Middle East. On the other, in the dock in Manhattan, sits Donald Trump, facing 34 criminal counts in a case relating to porn stars, adultery and hush money.
As Biden urges Israel to ‘think carefully’ as it considers how to respond to Iran’s attack last weekend, Trump is, as ever, ranting away about himself. This speaks to Biden’s 2024 re-election pitch: it’s democracy (him) vs chaos (you know who).
Trump can point to a string of successes that stemmed from his more assertive ‘madman’ approach
The problem is that the public does not appear to be swallowing the message. Whenever Trump’s ‘legal woes’ make headlines, his popularity seems to go up. That’s because many voters find the Democratic penchant for attacking their political opponent through the justice system to be far more odious than anything Trump has or hasn’t done.
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