Imagine thinking wheeling out Robert De Niro will save your campaign? It appears that's what President Biden is banking on.
Ingrid JacquesUSA TODAY
In case you needed another example of how President Joe Biden is in full desperation mode, look no further than what happened Tuesday outside the Manhattan courtroom where jurors heard closing arguments in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump.
The Biden campaign held a bizarre news conference featuring none other than actor Robert De Niro, who railed against Trump and his purported existential threat to democracy.
I’ve always been a fan of De Niro’s movies, but I don’t care at all what he thinks about politics.
I doubt many other Americans do, either.
And it’s somewhat humorous that Biden, who voters already think is too old at 81, thought lassoing an 80-year-old Hollywood star would be a good idea.
Voters are more scared about the economy than whatever seems to be frightening De Niro
Even though Trump is being tried on charges of falsifying business records, the Biden campaign made this political stunt all about their favorite, tired subjects: the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and how a Trump second term would be the end of our government as we know it.
“I don't mean to scare you,” De Niro said. “No, no, wait – maybe I do mean to scare you. If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted. And elections – forget about it. That’s over. That’s done. If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave.”
Who knew that De Niro, an actor past his prime, is also a noted elections expert?
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He didn’t stop there, either.
The jury is just starting deliberations. Yet De Niro, while acting as a Biden surrogate, convicted Trump in the court of public opinion.
“The fact is whether he’s acquitted, whether it’s hung jury, whatever it is, he is guilty, and we all know it,” he said after the news conference. “I’ve never seen a guy get out of so many things, and we all know this. Everybody in the world knows this.”
And De Niro thinks Trump should “absolutely” be in jail.
It’s ironic that at the same moment De Niro acted as if he was on the side of democracy, he also undermined it. Our Constitution guarantees all Americans – even Trump – a fair trial.
Regardless, while Biden and De Niro keep making this election about Jan. 6 and democracy, voters seem much more concerned about other things, such as affording food and housing for their families.
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All Biden wants is to call Trump a 'convicted felon'
Biden and his campaign team want nothing more than to label Trump a “convicted felon.” They’re already discussing how to incorporate the terminology into their social media strategy, according to The New York Times.
Plus, Biden reportedly has a speech ready to go, regardless of what the jury decides. He plans to give it in a White House setting rather than on the campaign trail in an effort to appear less political.
Come on. No matter where Biden will give this speech, it’s going to be political.
Biden and his struggling campaign are hanging on to the hope that Trump will be convicted and that it will help the president attract moderate conservatives and independents who may be turned off from Trump if he’s found guilty.
It may not be that easy, however. A recent Cook Political Report poll found that swing state voters are more worried about Biden’s “age and ability to complete his term” (53%) than Trump’s “temperament and legal problems” (47%).
In addition to concerns about his age and mental fitness, Biden's approval rating is at its lowest in two years, and he's losing to Trump by wide margins on the key issues voters say they care most about this election: the economy and immigration.
Biden's continuous lackluster polling and lagging fundraising has some top Democrats in a "freakout," Politico reports.
Considering that reality, it’s hard to understand how a curmudgeonly De Niro yelling at Trump supporters and calling them “gangsters” is going to make anyone feel better about Biden.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.
