A CNN panel on Saturday debated President Biden’s reelection strategy of hammering former President Trump as a threat to democracy rather than touting his record to voters.
“On the Democratic side, President Biden's campaign strategy is becoming clearer. And it could mean you will be hearing Adolf Hitler's name a lot more. But is that a winning message?” said host Chris Wallace as he introduced the discussion, pointing out that Biden began the year by going “harshly negative.”
He referenced two Biden speeches—one at Valley Forge that took place on Friday, where Biden claimed Trump “is a threat to democracy,” and another Monday at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, the site of a racially-motivated 2015 mass shooting, where Biden will reportedly “remind Americans the same hate that plagued Mother Emanuel hasn't gone away, and it's up to our elected officials to do their part in rooting out hate, extremism and division.”
Wallace asked the panelists about the wisdom in this approach, as the chyron read, “Should Biden Go ‘Full Hitler on Trump?”
“Biden campaign hoping the speeches and new ads draw a starker contrast with Trump. Aides telling CNN Biden may go 'full Hitler,' directly comparing Trump's rhetoric to the Nazi leader,” the host said. “Is Biden smart to go this hard at Trump, to go, quote, full Hitler, in the first week in January? I mean I certainly expected it in the fall, I certainly expected it in October or whatever, but it's really early to be doing this.”
“Some would argue it's a little late,” responded The New York Times’ Lulu Garcia-Navarro. "I mean, have you looked at his poll numbers? Have you seen how people are seeing his presidency?"
The Dispatch’s Jonah Goldberg, meanwhile, noted that by pursuing this strategy so early it will become “background noise” with “no shock value to it by the time you get to the general election.”
Conservatives will dismiss it as “an old tactic of the left,” he added, wondering who Biden is trying to convince unless perhaps “the point is just purely persuading his own coalition to come home.”
Wallace then argued the Biden campaign is taking this approach “because he has spent all fall touting his own record, leaning into Bidenomics, and it didn’t work.”
Indeed, according to CNN’s Poll of Polls, which tracks Biden’s average approval rating in national surveys, the president stands at 38 percent, with a 58 percent disapproval rating.
“It seems like a desperate maneuver from someone who had a failed presidency,” commented The Manhattan Institute’s Reihan Salam. “But I actually agree that this might be his best option. This might be the only thing he really can say.”
CNN debates whether Biden should go "full Hitler" on Trump: pic.twitter.com/CElbDzfIxN
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 8, 2024