One oft-repeated criticism of former President Donald Trump from his critics on the left and even some on the right is that he doesn’t have a filter, and doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone and to keep quiet.
“Will you shut up, man?” then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden once demanded during the first of their two highly contentious 2020 presidential debates.
But while Trump hasn’t exactly been quiet in the aftermath of President Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, he’s surprisingly taken a somewhat muted stance so far – standing back and watching from afar as the “Dems in disarray” narrative takes shape in living color, threatening to derail the Democratic Party’s hopes of keeping Trump from winning another term in office.
Predictably, Trump’s strategy is raising some eyebrows and causing some fretting on the left and in the MSM, as first indicated by the New York Times seemingly trying to draw him out for comment earlier this month:
From that write-up:
His decision to cede the spotlight to a rival, even temporarily, is a seldom-seen strategy from the attention-driven former president, who has spent a lifetime bending news coverage to his benefit in real estate, on reality television and in national politics.[…]There was no concrete plan for the former president to announce his pick either last week or this week. But Mr. Biden’s fumbling performance left Mr. Trump in the aftermath with little choice but to further linger over his decision, according to two people familiar with the former president’s thinking. Naming a running mate now would risk stepping on the controversy swirling around his opponent, which has included calls from within the Democratic Party and from liberal news media figures for Mr. Biden to step aside.
The “Biden’s Wins” Twitter/X account, which bills itself as “The largest online community of President Biden’s supporters,” also appears to be trying to goad Trump to come out and play:
… as did CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers, the South Carolina state co-chairman of then-Sen. Kamala Harris’ failed 2020 presidential campaign:
DNC strategist Simon Rosenberg also took up the talking point:
Trump is of course not missing and has not gone into hiding. He’s been active on his social media platform, Truth Social, since the debate, and on Monday called in to Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity. And as I write this, he’s preparing for a campaign event set to take place at his Doral, Florida golf resort Tuesday night.
While the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee has taken a few (mostly) light jabs at Biden’s debate performance and the fallout that erupted from it, sources with his campaign have confirmed that their strategy of grabbing the popcorn and watching the Democrats implode has been deliberate:
The Trump campaign doesn’t want to “get in the way” of Democrats “shooting at each other” over President Biden’s re-election chances, with a source telling Fox News Digital that the former president prefers to focus on campaigning and the upcoming Republican National Convention instead of on his rival’s implosion.
Other than challenging Biden to a second debate – one that he proposes occur without any moderators – former President Trump has been measured in his attacks on Biden. When asked about the strategy, a Trump campaign source said Trump is, instead, focused on his campaign and winning.
“Democrats are in disarray,” the Trump campaign source told Fox News Digital. “Why get in the way of them shooting at each other?”
One Trump supporter put it another way:
I’ve got to admit, I didn’t see it coming, but it’s been pretty impressive so far. As for how long it will last, I’ll leave that to Legal Insurrection commenters to speculate on.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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