100 days in, Trump still fixated on Joe Biden

WASHINGTON – Six months after defeating Mr Joe Biden, US President Donald Trump is back in power but remains obsessed with his White House predecessor, taking every opportunity to blame the man who remains his greatest political bugbear.

The country’s gross domestic product fell in the first quarter

because of the “overhang” from the Democrat’s presidency, Mr Trump insisted on April 30 on his Truth Social network.

Hours later during a Cabinet meeting, he denied any link between the economic slowdown and his protectionist trade policies, even though it was essentially due to a surge in imports in anticipation of the Republican’s sweeping tariffs.

“This is Biden,” he said of the first-quarter downturn, “and you can even say the next quarter is sort of Biden”.

According to a recent count by The New York Times, the brash billionaire has mentioned his predecessor on average six times per day since his Jan 20 inauguration.

Even conservative influencer Dave Portnoy, who was a powerful conduit for anti-Biden rhetoric during 2024’s presidential campaign, is tiring of the deflections.

“What’s that old expression? Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining?” Mr Portnoy posted on X in response to Mr Trump claiming “This is Biden’s Stock Market.”

“The stock market is a direct reflection of Trumps 1st 100 days in office,” added Mr Portnoy, who founded digital media company Barstool Sports. “Doesn’t mean it won’t get better... but this is his market not Biden’s.”

And yet Mr Trump, whose approval rating has tumbled in recent weeks, blasts Mr Biden relentlessly.

On April 30, he blamed the Democrat for “destroying our country in so many ways”, described the

three-year-old conflict between Russia and Ukraine

as “Biden’s war”, and even slammed his nemesis for not having Cabinet meetings as open as his own.

“Trump knows the economy and his foreign policy are in trouble, and he’s looking for a narrative that excuses himself,” Dr Joseph Grieco, a political science professor at Duke University, told AFP.

“Biden bashing has worked for him in the past, so it’s not surprising he’d turn to it now,” he said, but added: “This will work for only so long.”

During a April 29 rally in Michigan to mark his first 100 days in office, Mr Trump asked his supporters which of his two Biden smears they preferred: “Crooked Joe or Sleepy Joe?”

Mr Trump then offered a boorish critique of his predecessor, as he often did on the campaign trail.

“He goes to the beach, right? And he could fall asleep... drooling out of the side of his mouth.”

The Washington Post counted roughly 30 Biden references in the lengthy speech.

And in a wilful rejection of fact, Mr Trump repeated his false claim that the Democrat had stolen his victory in 2020.

‘The other guy’

To date, there has been little effective response from the Democratic opposition, and Mr Trump has made sure this time around that he is surrounded exclusively by loyal lieutenants who flatter rather than provoke.

So when the president seeks a political punching bag, he rounds on Mr Biden.

He has attacked Mr Biden on a range of issues, from high egg prices to strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, from immigration to paper straws.

On social media, legions of Mr Trump-aligned accounts join the fray, hurling jibes at Mr Biden.

In March as he promoted Tesla, the company run by his ally Elon Musk, the 78-year-old Mr Trump told reporters at the White House as he emerged from a red vehicle: “You think Biden could get into that car? I don’t think so.”

When he was president, Mr Biden adopted quite a different strategy.

He often refused to even utter Mr Trump’s name, referring to him as “the other guy.” AFP