Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.

June 16, 2020

TO:               Media
FROM:          Tim Murtaugh
                     Trump 2020 Communications Director
DATE:            June 16, 2020
RE:                Biden Avoiding Campaigning
 
It is now established that Joe Biden prefers campaigning from the comfort of his basement in Wilmington, DE instead of traveling the country meeting voters and making the case for his candidacy.  This is obviously a tactic to help him avoid errors and embarrassing, lost trains of thought, while also conveniently preventing the press corps from asking him any questions in person.

Biden apparently does enjoy actual freedom of movement, as evidenced by his brief forays into Houston and Philadelphia, and a planned event in Darby, PA (separated from his most recent event by nearly a week).  These events have been either tightly controlled or covered by press in only a pool arrangement.  At what point will Biden subject himself to the scrutiny American voters deserve when considering the next President of the United States?

The reasons for Biden’s timidity are apparent.  When unleashed without his trusty basement teleprompter, he struggles to complete thoughts, even when aided by notes, as during his recent Philadelphia event When set loose on uncontrolled media interviews, he is prone to meltdowns, such as his infamous “You Ain’t Black!” remark on Charlamagne Tha God’s radio show.
Prominent Democrats and Biden supporters have remarked favorably on Biden’s “basement strategy,” recognizing that he is better off staying where almost no one has access to him:
  • Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe was caught on tape telling the Norfolk City Democratic Committee, “People say all the time, 'Oh, we got to get the vice president out of the basement.’ He's fine in the basement. Two people see him a day: his two body people. That's it … [A]nd that's what we're preferring that he actually do[.]”
     
  • Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic Communications under Hillary Clinton, Philippe Reines, recently urged Biden, “don’t leave the basement.”

The reluctance to emerge from the basement prompted the Trump campaign to join the Biden campaign in an unprecedented show of solidarity, urging the media to carry Biden’s events in their entirety, absent any actual public appearances.

We hope that the media joins us in calling on Joe Biden to end his self-imposed isolation and give Americans what they deserve – a thorough examination and vetting of a man who wants to be president.

Republican National Committee rapid response
June 17, 2020

76 days since Biden held a presser

Joe Biden’s current campaign strategy: hide from the press and avoid the campaign trail at all costs.

 
The last time Biden held a press conference 76 days ago consisted of 4 questions and lasted less than 15 minutes. The last time Biden took questions in-person following public remarks? March 2.
 
Why has Biden vanished?
 
Is it because Biden needs his team to prewrite his answers and load them into his Teleprompter?
 
Or is it because Biden’s handlers have made the decision that the more America sees of Joe Biden, the worse off he is.
 

 
Fox News, June 9
 
Or is it because Biden doesn’t want to comment on the CHAZ/CHOP secession movement in lawless, Democrat-run Seattle?
 
Or does Biden not want to comment on the resignation of the Atlanta Police Chief? (Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is a Biden VP pick shortlister.)
 
Bottom Line: Where is Joe Biden? Hiding in his basement safe space, afraid to talk with the press. Contrasted with hidin’ Biden, President Trump is not only working to fix the issues that Biden spent nearly 50 years in Washington, D.C. creating, President Trump is also leading America as our country reopens.  
 
 
Steve Guest
Rapid Response Director
Republican National Committee