Biden and His Allies Are Likely to Stay Quiet on Trump’s Manhattan Trial

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. The president’s campaign and other Democrats believe that the court proceedings will do their work for them and that messaging should focus on Mr. Biden’s record. President Biden is expected […]

Biden and His Allies Are Likely to Stay Quiet on Trump’s Manhattan Trial

Biden and His Allies Are Likely to Stay Quiet on Trump’s Manhattan Trial thumbnail

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

The president’s campaign and other Democrats believe that the court proceedings will do their work for them and that messaging should focus on Mr. Biden’s record.

President Biden walking on an airport tarmac from Air Force One to an awaiting car.
President Biden is expected to employ a “Rose Garden strategy” that highlights his record more than Donald J. Trump’s court proceedings.Credit…Tom Brenner for The New York Times

Nicholas Nehamas

As former President Donald J. Trump goes on trial on Monday in Manhattan, President Biden and his allies are not likely to say much.

For Democrats, a former president facing criminal charges over covering up a sex scandal surrounding the 2016 campaign speaks for itself. The media coverage will be constant, especially if Mr. Trump takes the stand, which he has floated as a possibility. And while Mr. Trump faces up to eight weeks in court, Mr. Biden will be on the campaign trail and employing a “Rose Garden strategy” as he governs from the White House, a contrast that the president’s aides hope voters will view favorably.

The approach could be bolstered by the fact that Mr. Trump will be appearing in a court case involving salacious details and questionable financial maneuverings while Mr. Biden is addressing a conflict in the Middle East.

Mr. Biden and his campaign have said nothing publicly about the criminal indictments against Mr. Trump, worried about improperly influencing the cases or stoking Mr. Trump’s repeated allegations — made without evidence — that Mr. Biden has engineered the charges.

Many of the deep-pocketed outside Democratic groups supporting the Biden campaign are charting a similar path. Part of their calculation, they say, is that ads promoting Mr. Biden’s record or arguing that Mr. Trump is a threat to democracy are testing better with voters than highlighting Mr. Trump’s legal troubles. Another consideration is that the Manhattan case, which is being brought by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is not easily explained in a sound bite or a 30-second ad.

“I just don’t think in the end it’s the strongest argument for voters,” said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist running a pro-Biden super PAC called Unite the Country. “Campaigns have limited resources and you spend those resources in a way that moves the most votes.”


Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.