US Joe Biden News Megathread - The Other Biden Derangement Syndrome Thread (with a side order of Fauci Derangement Syndrome)

Let's pretend for one moment that he does die before the election, just for the funsies. What happens then? Will the nomination revert to option number 2, aka Bernie Sanders? Or will his running mate automatically replace him just the way Vice-President is supposted to step in after the Big Man in the White House chokes on a piece of matzo? Does he even have a running mate yet?

 

[Oxous]

Something really irked me about this. At first it makes sense as these states are the ones with the most narrow margins from 2020 and it presumes they will be playing defense (which makes sense given polling) with only NC as offense. Then it hit me, midterms should have little to no effect on the 2024 presidential bid (in theory). Midterms historically have not been indicative of presidential races; 2010 was a red wave and 2012 was a blue landslide, 2002 was a historic incumbent gain and 2004 was a lackluster incumbent reelection.

So what do they mean by "to prepare the ground for Bidens campaign trail"? I think they are sacking the midterms and will go all-in on the gubernatorial/SOS/AG races as that what really won 2020 for the Dems. That and fraud, facilitated by winning the previous races.

Edit: some of the polling work coming from Baris has indicated that if the presidential election was held tomorrow that minnesota and virginia would be in play. WI, GA, AZ would be well out of the margin of error.

One other area I've seen Democrats fret about is that they apparently are struggling to find candidates to run for the vast vast number of precinct-level jobs. Voter participation in general is really fucking low for positions like precinct captain relative to their importance in, say, fortifying an election. In Pennsylvania there's been instances where hardcore Trump supporters have become candidates for precinct captain, voted for themselves, and won because they were the only person who bothered to vote. Local elections are what Republicans are getting pretty good at.

Their fear specifically is that if they can't milk more money out of donors to field candidates for such low-level jobs, Republicans will just keep voting themselves and their fellow Republicans into these positions. Even in, say, Loudoun County you need the local election officials on your side. If they're all Republicans who abhor the idea of voter fraud, well... it's kinda hard to dump ballots at 3am.

 

[Potatoherder]

I think they are sacking the midterms and will go all-in on the gubernatorial/SOS/AG races as that what really won 2020 for the Dems. That and fraud, facilitated by winning the previous races.

This is the message that needs to beaten in peoples' head. There are signs Trump understands this and that is good but everyone on the right should. Sure it'll be good if the republicans take back one or both houses but it should be assumed they will squander that like they have always done. AG, SOS, and governors are more important than house/senate.

Making sure those that are put in place will stand up is critical as well. We don't need any more Neville Chamberlains we need Winston Churchills.

 

[CrippleThreat]

One other area I've seen Democrats fret about is that they apparently are struggling to find candidates to run for the vast vast number of precinct-level jobs. Voter participation in general is really fucking low for positions like precinct captain relative to their importance in, say, fortifying an election. In Pennsylvania there's been instances where hardcore Trump supporters have become candidates for precinct captain, voted for themselves, and won because they were the only person who bothered to vote. Local elections are what Republicans are getting pretty good at.

Their fear specifically is that if they can't milk more money out of donors to field candidates for such low-level jobs, Republicans will just keep voting themselves and their fellow Republicans into these positions. Even in, say, Loudoun County you need the local election officials on your side. If they're all Republicans who abhor the idea of voter fraud, well... it's kinda hard to dump ballots at 3am.

And even if all these election-integrity bills are more watered down than Biden's anus yesterday, the Right will focus not on the picture, nor the frame, not the nails, nor the wall the damn thing is on.

But rather the efforts will shift to cleaning house. And it all starts with 1, hopefully 2, hopium on all of them.

 

[Nuthatch]

Don't forget they tried the same shit with stopping the vote for a week trying to find the ballots to flip NC and still couldn't do it.

I think NC is off the table, but feel free to spend money on it.

Well, they did succeed in stealing the gubernatorial election.

 

[chiobu]

Biden and aides tell allies he is running in 2024 amid growing Democratic fears​

President Biden and members of his inner circle have reassured allies in recent days that he plans to run for reelection in 2024, as they take steps to deflect concern about the 79-year-old president’s commitment to another campaign and growing Democratic fears of a coming Republican return to power.

The efforts come as the broader Democratic community has become increasingly anxious after a bruising six-month stretch that has seen Biden’s national approval rating plummet more than a dozen points, into the low 40s, amid growing concerns about inflation, Democratic infighting in Washington and faltering public health efforts to move beyond the covid-19 pandemic.

The message is aimed in part at tamping down the assumption among many Democrats that Biden may not seek reelection given his age and waning popularity, while also effectively freezing the field for Vice President Harris and other potential presidential hopefuls.

“The only thing I’ve heard him say is he’s planning on running again,” said former senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a Biden friend. “And I’m glad he is.”

At a virtual fundraiser this month, Biden told a small group of donors that he plans to seek a second term, underscoring the message he gave the nation in March at his first White House news conference before cautioning that he had “never been able to plan 3½, four years ahead, for certain.”

[Biden approval hits new low as economic discontent rises, Post-ABC News poll shows]
“What he is saying publicly is what he firmly believes. There’s no difference,” said former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, who attended the fundraising event. “He will not run if he feels he can’t do the job physically or emotionally.”

But interviews with 28 Democratic strategists and officials, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more frankly, show that the assurances have not stopped the internal debate over whether Biden will appear on the ticket.

Some Democrats take a skeptical view of any public and private signals Biden and his team send about reelection, reasoning that there is an incentive for them to project interest in a second term, regardless of his true intent, to avoid weakening his standing. Another presidential bid, others worry, would involve a much more rigorous schedule than the relatively calm 2020 campaign, which was largely conducted remotely because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Even among those in close touch with Biden’s innermost circle, interpretations about his intentions vary. One Democrat involved in campaigns said they couldn’t think of a single person they had spoken to in the last month who considers the possibility of Biden running again to be a real one.

“I hear this question get asked every day,” said another Democratic veteran of recent presidential campaigns, about whether Biden will run for reelection. “No one ever asked that question about Barack Obama. No one ever asked that question about Donald Trump.”

Florida trial lawyer John Morgan, who was a top 2020 Biden donor, said he was unsure whether Biden would seek reelection.

“What is his health going to be in the next three years?” he wondered aloud. “All you have to do is look at the mortality tables in America to understand what I’m saying.”

Biden received a health checkup Friday — a day before his 79th birthday Saturday — at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that found the president to be “healthy,” “vigorous” and working out five days a week. His doctor described a stiffer walking gait in recent years, which he attributed to spinal arthritis, and some acid reflux that has caused him to repeatedly clear his throat.

His advisers say that health is not a current concern that would prevent another campaign.

“He has told people privately that he plans to run and we will be ready for that,” said one Biden adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

Biden has so far rejected then-president Donald Trump’s approach of declaring a reelection campaign in the first months in office, reasoning that such an announcement would waste money and wear out campaign donors, allies say. Biden is widely expected to wait until after the midterms to make a formal announcement.

Shortly after arriving in the White House, Biden shifted the assets of his presidential campaign to the Democratic National Committee, leaving his donor and volunteer lists to be managed by the national party. Since then, DNC leaders have been operating under the assumption that he will run again, choosing not to begin any planning for a contested primary, like debate preparations, which had started at this point in the 2020 cycle.

The party does plan to review the order of nominating states in the primary calendar, a threat to the first-in-the-nation position of the Iowa caucuses, but those efforts do not assume a contested Democratic fight.

[Biden deemed ‘vigorous’ by doctor after physical]
Should Biden run and face a primary challenge in 2024, Democratic officials plan to side firmly with the incumbent, potentially frustrating challengers’ access to party data and resources, according to people familiar with the plans.

In the meantime, the DNC has been working with Jen O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff and Biden’s former campaign manager, to draft plans for major investments over the next year in important midterm election states that they believe will be battlegrounds for Biden in 2024.

The top priority states — Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada — will all be staffed statewide with DNC funds, according to a person familiar with the plans, in the hopes of creating continuity into the presidential contest. All but two of the states have both a contested U.S. Senate race and a contested gubernatorial election next year. Michigan has only a gubernatorial race and North Carolina, only a Senate race.

Unite the Country, a super PAC formed by Biden loyalists, has also announced plans to invest in the midterms to prepare the ground for Biden’s return to the campaign trail. The focus of their midterm spending, which has a fundraising goal of $42.4 million, will be on five states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin.

“I wake up every day operating like he is running,” the group’s CEO Steve Schale said. “He is running until he is not.”

Another group founded to support Biden’s priorities, Building Back Together, has been spending millions of dollars on television and digital ads to support the Biden agenda, and it has been holding regular meetings with Democratic groups in an effort to hold together the coalition that elected Biden. But there has not been any decision made about whether the group will spend money on a Biden reelection, according to people involved.


In recent weeks, Anita Dunn, who left the White House in August after a short stint as a senior adviser, has made calls to Democratic Party leaders and activists, assuring them Biden will run for reelection, according to people familiar with the calls.

From her perch at SKDK, a consulting firm she helps run, Dunn still serves as one of Biden’s most trusted and influential political advisers and is deeply involved in plotting out his political future. If Biden decides to run, Dunn is likely to be a key part of his team with O’Malley Dillon, allies say. Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, two of Biden’s top White House advisers, are also expected to be deeply involved in campaign strategy and messaging, they say.

Growing concerns about Democratic chances in next year’s midterm elections are widespread, after an electoral defeat in the Virigina governor’s race and an unexpectedly close race in New Jersey. But that concern less frequently extends to 2024, as party leaders point to the experiences of the last two Democratic presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who faced midterm wipeouts before easily winning reelection.

If Biden doesn’t run, some fear an open and potentially bruising primary campaign with no clear front-runner. Harris, seen at the start of the administration as a potential heir apparent, has stumbled in the eyes of many Democrats, opening the door to conversations in the party about the prospect of others leading the ticket if Biden steps aside. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is seen by some Democrats as another potential candidate from inside the administration.

[Harris and Buttigieg under spotlight amid uncertainty over Biden’s future]
Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe spoke during his gubernatorial campaign about possibly running in 2024 if Biden steps aside, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations, but his defeat in this month’s election casts that plan into doubt. The names some liberals have floated as possible candidates if Biden steps down include Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). Others have pointed to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is seen as the future of the liberal movement. In 2025, she would barely meet the constitutional requirement that presidents be at least 35 years old.

There is little sign at the moment of much appetite for a liberal challenge to Biden if he mounts another campaign. The president has won plaudits from liberal lawmakers this year for pursuing an ambitious domestic agenda.

“President Biden will enjoy strong support from many progressives when he runs for reelection. He will certainly have mine,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who co-chaired the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2020.

When it comes to the prospect of Biden drawing a liberal challenger, one Democratic congressional aide with knowledge of party dynamics wondered aloud who would want to spend their political capital taking on an incumbent and weakening him, like Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) did to President Jimmy Carter in 1980. While such a move might be destructive, the aide said, some might be prepared to play that role.

“If this was a decision being made now, personally I would say that there’s plenty of work people can do without challenging the president,” said Larry Cohen, a close Sanders ally who chairs the board of a group aligned with the senator.

“If he’s not running, I think absolutely there’ll be progressives — at least one,” he added, without predicting who might run in an open race.

The threat of a return of Trump to the White House has also divided Democrats. Biden ran for election to “restore the soul” of the country, but nearly a year into his term it is clear that the political threats he identified in the country, including Trump’s brand of politics, have not faded from the scene.
Trump, 75, has taken to hinting strongly that he intends another campaign, which has strengthened the rationale for some Democrats of having Biden back on the top of the ticket. Democrats expect Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and his continued false denials of the 2020 election result, to be a drag on his campaign in 2024.
Barry Goodman, a Democratic donor who served on Biden’s national finance committee for his 2020 presidential campaign, said many donors are “praying that Trump runs.”
“I think no matter who runs, a Democrat beats him,” he said of Trump. “At the end of the day, people are not going to put that despot in office one more time.”

Biden and aides tell allies he is running in 2024 amid growing Democratic fears

https://archive.md/ehdgX

 

[make_it_so]

After what happened in VA a few weeks ago, I think that ought to be in the "swing" column as well.

 

[deeplyhigh]

Uh, you just linked to "895.62  Use of force in response to unlawful and forcible entry into a dwelling, motor vehicle, or place of business; civil liability immunity."

Yes and that’s why Car Source was brought up in the trial. At the very least, there was conflicting testimony about whether or not the owners asked the group to defend the business. Rosenbaum had started a fire near the Car Source iirc. Maybe the families were all waiting for the trial to end, but note that Huber’s parents haven’t sued Kyle, but they have sued the Kenosha Police Department for civil rights violations and Bicep Boy had sued the city but not Kyle. He’s going to lose that suit after lying about having the Glock to police and others.

 

[GuntPunt]

If Biden is running in 2024, if he makes it there, he is going to be fucking destroyed.

Even without putting the candidates in to question (It's Trump, barring something unexpected), he will barely be sentient by 2024. And he won't have the Coof to hide it, or maybe he'll try, which makes the situation even more sad.

Also, something I'd like to call "The Grand Illusion" will be permanently dead to a vast majority of persuadable voters, where repeating "TRUMP IS HITLER, TRUMP IS WHY YOUR LIFE IS HORRIBLE" ad nauseum will not matter because Trump isn't in power, and Biden has fucked up amazingly. His promise to "bring back normalcy" was a lie ( or the truth, its just that normalcy was dogshit), and people will put the blame on him and vote against him, just like Obama's second run. And since his margins of "victory" were small, he is going to turn the map red as hell as Independents swing right hard. By 2024, you would also have potentially Republican governors in swing states like PA, WI, and MI due to 2022, causing there to be no behind the scenes "fortification."

I really don't know why Biden is running again, nor do I think he will last that long, but it makes 2024 easier for the meantime.

 

[Oats12345]

View attachment 2736422

I call it Fortify II: Dementia Boogaloo!

They have helpfully given us a list of states they consider swing states.
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Link | Archive

Giving up on Florida completely. And they couldn't get North Carolina last time with mail-in votes, there's no way it will be as positive for them a second time.

Bad idea will he even be alive at that point?

Also North Carolina will not be a swing state not as long as I will be living there at that point.

 

[Lodoss Warrior]

Man, I kind of wish the Democrats would overstretch and try to put Texas and Florida on the map of swing states.

Please, use up some of those multi-millions and man-power campaigning in Texas and Florida! You yourself said they’d turn blue any time now. Just think of all the electoral college votes you could reap from the wise investment…

 

[Garm]

They have helpfully given us a list of states they consider swing states.
View attachment 2736494
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Link | Archive

Imagine laying all this ground work just for Kamala to take over and nuke it to the ground because she laughs like a maniac.

 

[Another Sperg on the Net]

Would you rather have Kopmala as our potential Commander-in-Chief? In other words, no.

Florida and Ohio, two formerly swing states now firmly in the red column by their own admission, how very interesting.

 

[Some Badger]

No fucking way Biden will win in 2024. The idea of running an incumbent candidate with a ~30% approval rating sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Approval ratings and public opinion don’t magically begin to turn when your leader continues to dick over taxpayers. BBB’s just gonna make that worse.

You know your party fucked up big when your only other realistic options outside of a dementia patient for the 2024 primaries are Beta O’Cuck and The Gay One(tm)

 

[CrippleThreat]

Florida and Ohio, two formerly swing states now firmly in the red column by their own admission, how very interesting.

Don't forget Iowa!

 

[Ishtar]

My concern in 2024 is that they’ll run a propaganda campaign of “if Trump wins he’s going to be Hitler x a trillion” and that will mobilize tens of millions of gullible white liberals and minorities alike.

 

[chiobu]

Joe Biden, Unlike Trump, Didn't Take Cognitive Test in Annual Exam, Sanjay Gupta Says​

President Joe Biden is considered perfectly fit for duty after a physical exam Friday, according to a report from the president's doctor, Kevin O'Connor.

Additionally, the president, unlike his immediate predecessor, did not undergo a test of his cognitive abilities, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta said.

During an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 360, Gupta was asked if Biden had taken any type of exam to measure his mental state.

"There's been a lot of focus on his cognitive abilities, questions raised by opponents and others, and in 2018 the former president [Donald Trump] had a test that measured mental acuity, was that part of today's test?" Cooper asked Gupta.

"It doesn't seem like it," Gupta replied. "I read pretty carefully through the doctor's report and they mention neurological exam, but that was more in terms of testing motor strength and sensation and things like that."

"As far as we know, for President Biden, we didn't see any kind of test like that performed," Gupta added.

This news comes as a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll stated that 48 percent of Americans were reportedly concerned with Biden's cognition. The poll, which surveyed 1,998 registered voters, was conducted between November 13 and November 15 with a two percent margin error. It was released days prior to the president's public health report. Trump saw similar numbers in 2018.

The test Cooper was referring to is known as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and was taken by Trump when he was 72 years old amid concerns over his cognitive abilities. Gupta described the assessment as a screening test for dementia.

Trump passed the test, reportedly scoring a 30 out of 30, according to the White House.

Gupta, who is also an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University, added that some medical professionals have pushed for basic cognitive tests to be more readily done at age 65. President Biden turns 79 on Saturday and is the oldest serving president in U.S. history.

However, despite the concerns of some conservatives, Gupta corroborated Dr. O'Connor's report that the president was healthy and fit for office.

The six-page report went into more details on the president's condition, and stated that while he was fit to serve, he did have a number of minor issues that commonly afflict people his age.

This includes atrial fibrillation, gastric reflux, and seasonal allergies. The report also stated that Biden has a bit of a "stiffened gait," mostly as a result of a number of orthopedic injuries over the years and a broken foot in November 2020.

While no cognitive assessment was performed on the president, Dr. O'Connor said that he performed a detailed neurologic exam to check for central nervous disorders such as Parkinson's disease or a stroke. This exam did not reveal any significant findings, O'Connor added.

Physical examination results are typically released by presidents throughout their time in office.

Joe Biden, unlike Trump, didn't take cognitive test in annual exam, Sanjay Gupta says

Gupta agreed that the president was fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.

www.newsweek.com

Joe Biden, Unlike Trump, Didn't Take Cognitive Test in Annual Exam, S…

archived 20 Nov 2021 18:37:51 UTC

archive.md

 

[Another Sperg on the Net]

View attachment 2736961

Things that make you go

 

[Sweet and Savoury]

I really really doubt Biden actually said this.

Judging by his current state he's likely to be a potato long before 2024 rolls around.

However I could see the DNC saying this as they're completely out of possible candidates for 2024.

Harris turned out to be even less popular then even the DNC ever imagined, Cumo self-destructed with in the typical Democrat style by sexually assaulting multiple women, Bernie's con game is way too obvious to be pulled for a third time (no refunds!), Beto crashed and burned so hard he left a crater, so whose left?

Bootygig? A gay cucked PotUS? lol, not happening.
Abrams? Crazy shouting black woman? That's so 2010's and she can't even break 3 figures in her home state in the primaries.
Warren? Fake Indian lady? Way too much baggage and she's going the Bernie route and courting the far left wack jobs. So not likely.
Yang? Meh, pretty underwhelming performance aside from the meme's. I don't see him stepping up again
Whitmer? She's making a ton of noise but half of the gas price issues are her direct fault. Plus she's a unstable lunatic so a very risky pick over all so I'm guessing no.
AOC...lol nuff said, not happening. The horse faced commie will be lucky to have a district in 2 years let alone secure a PotUS nom.

Ok..lets look at some possibles;

Booker? Maybe..he's not well know but who was Obama before 2010? A probable choice IMHO just because he's got no baggage and no history so easy to the MSM lackeys to whip up some news and fluff peices to get him into the public eye. Watch Google to see if he starts getting pumped up.
Newsome? Also maybe but whats the point of picking a Commiefornia Gov the state has been rock solid blue and is very unlikely to swap red but maybe he might be a default choice if no one else comes up.
Inslee? Also maybe..pretty much the same story as Booker.

I dunno... the Hilldawg cleaned out the DNC ranks pretty damn well so its not like they have a wide roster to choose from. No matter what they do the Democrats are facing a tough fight unless Biden pulls a 180 and starts getting shit going.

I foresee at solid GoP win in the midterms, more rage mongering and "end of democracy" shtick from the usual suspects that may not go over so well in 2024 as you can only cry wolf so many times before it gets old.

I think a lot depends on Trump..if he chooses to run the GoP will have no choice but to bow down or risk a Ron Paul event which MAY energize the democrat voters to turn out once again to "stop Orange Hitler". Or not. People may think that Trump is the lesser of the two evils again if Biden continues to ride America into the dirt.

Either way...it's gonna be interesting. With the Democrats "fortifying" as many swing states as possible and the GoP doing everything they can to swing the balance back its hard to know exactly how things will turn out. Polling is getting less and less useful and forecasts are pretty much guesswork at this point.

It's gonna be a wild ride.

 

[Garm]

My concern in 2024 is that they’ll run a propaganda campaign of “if Trump wins he’s going to be Hitler x a trillion” and that will mobilize tens of millions of gullible white liberals and minorities alike.

I'm convinced Biden is going to sniff the economy like it was a 12 year old girl so we're headed to a depression. Those liberals probably won't be able to afford a newspaper subscription by then.

 

[bippu_as_fuck_ls400]

Rittenhouse verdict puts Biden in difficult political spot​

https://apnews.com/article/coronavi...ealth-voting-9cecc10db02228dc3afd04d26efd89b4 (https://archive.ph/3PSku)

Spoiler

A difficult political atmosphere for President Joe Biden may have become even more treacherous with the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Biden was already facing sliding poll numbers with an electorate worn down by the coronavirus pandemic and increasing inflation. Now, the president finds himself caught between outraged Democrats — some of whom were already stewing over Biden’s inability to land police reform and voting rights legislation — and Republicans looking to use the Rittenhouse case to exploit the national divide over matters of grievance and race.

“This is one of the last things Biden wants to be engaging in at this moment as he tries to finish up the big Build Back Better bill and get that across the finish line through the Senate,” said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. “Race and Kyle Rittenhouse is not the space where he wants or needs to be going deep right now.”

The acquittal of Rittenhouse has touched off new conversations about racial justice, vigilantism and policing in America. The Illinois teen armed himself with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle during an August 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, days after the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer. He said he came to small city to help protect a car lot from vandals and provide medical aid.

Rittenhouse would end up fatally shooting two men and maiming a third. Rittenhouse and his lawyers successfully argued that he had acted in self-defense during a confrontation in which he feared for his life.

The verdict in the case comes at a moment when Biden is trying to keep fellow Democrats focused on passing his massive social services and climate bill and hoping to turn the tide with Americans who have soured on his performance as president.

The president responded carefully following Friday’s verdict, expressing respect for the jury’s decision. He later added in a written statement that, like many Americans, he was “angry and concerned” with the jury acquittal of Rittenhouse.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who had success in this month’s Virginia election in part by accusing Democrats of promoting critical race theory in public schools, are embracing 18-year-old Rittenhouse as their newest hero in America’s culture wars.

GOP Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Matt Gaetz of Florida have said they’d like to hire him as an intern, with Gosar suggesting they arm wrestle for the honor. Another Republican, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, on Saturday predicted that liberal outrage over the Rittenhouse trial would benefit her party.

“It seems liberals want self-defense to be illegal,” Boebert tweeted. “Try running on that in 2022 and see how far it gets you with the majority of the sane American public.”

Former President Donald Trump was quick to stand with Rittenhouse following the verdict. He called the teen “brave” for testifying in his own defense and accused the left of trying “to fan hatred” with its treatment of Rittenhouse.

Trump has spent much of his post-presidency stoking divisions with his frontal criticism of Biden and of any Republican who has not marched in lockstep with his views. And most Republicans, either through silence or direct endorsement, have followed his lead.

In the aftermath of the acquittal, Republicans have highlighted a tweet by Biden during his winning 2020 presidential campaign in which he appeared to suggest that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist.

The tweet, from September 2020, excoriated Trump for failing “to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage” the previous night and included a video that contained a still image of Rittenhouse from the night of the Kenosha shooting and footage of torch-bearing white supremacists at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel are among party officials who have called on Biden to apologize.

“He smeared a teenager to score political points and spread lies about this case,” McDaniel wrote on Twitter. “What Biden did was dangerous and inflammatory.”

Asked by a reporter soon after the verdict if he stood by his campaign social media posting, Biden responded that “I stand by what the jury has concluded.”

Borick, the Muhlenberg College pollster, said the results of this month’s elections in Virginia show that driving at cultural issues — including race and transgender rights — could be a good strategy for Republicans trying to energize a segment of the electorate that was passionate about Trump but less enthusiastic about the rest of the GOP. But Borick warned that the GOP’s fulsome embrace of Rittenhouse wasn’t without risk.

“I don’t know if it’s a great place to be if you’re trying, come the midterms, to reach suburban voters and educated voters who might not fault the decision to acquit Rittenhouse because of the circumstances but are far from comfortable holding him up as a hero,” Borick said.

Even before the verdict, Biden had been facing increased pressure from some Democrats over the lack of progress on passing voting rights and police reform legislation.

Last month, a day after Senate Republicans filibustered a major voting bill for the second time this year, Biden acknowledged that the process of governing could be “frustrating and sometimes dispiriting” but urged supporters to “keep the faith.”

At the same, civil rights leaders have expressed frustration that Biden has not used the power of the bully pulpit more to push for a broad police reform bill named after George Floyd, the Black Minneapolis man whose killing last year by police touched off protests around the U.S.

Speaking at an event earlier this week where he signed into law a trio of bills to increase aid to police, Biden only made passing mention of the George Floyd act, asking legislators from both parties to work together to make it law.

“That’s next,” Biden said.