Biden is staying silent.
According to reports by The Hill, the White House has indicated former President Donald Trump will not have any significant feature in its talking points about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The news outlet asserted that Republicans are finding themselves in an awkward position given Trump’s history with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his relationship with Ukraine after he roped in Ukraine’s assistance to investigate President Joe Biden while his administration held up security assistance. The latter resulted in Trump’s first impeachment.
That instance aside, since taking office, Biden has largely avoided attacking Trump, barring some exceptions. His most noteworthy exception came on the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, where Biden censured Trump without mentioning him by name.
During his address, Biden said, “The will of the people was under assault… for the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol, but they failed. They failed.
Trump’s response blasted Biden, stating, “Joe Biden’s voice is now the voice of desperation and despair.”
But, since Jan. 6, Biden hasn’t criticized Trump, choosing instead to focus on the unifying tone of Ukraine and seeking more bipartisan support for his policies.
Some Democrats, however, are urging the White House to reconsider its tone with Republicans as the midterms approach.
One Democratic strategist, who asked The Hill to remain anonymous to speak candidly, said that it wasn’t “the time to take a passive approach,” adding that “Every day, [Democrats] need to be out there reminding people what we stand for and what Republicans stand for.”
These remarks come as American Bridge, a liberal super PAC, released a Ukrainian language ad in battleground states with large Ukrainian populations, showing Trump praising Putin.
However, Democrat strategist Jim Manley believes it’s best to keep Trump out of the conversation, saying, “It makes more sense to go after a sitting senator to highlight that his party is out of control” rather than Trump.
