THE BIG DISTRACTION

Extent of Trump’s Obsession With Former President Revealed

A revealing pattern is emerging as Trump turns up the volume on one familiar target.

President Donald Trump has mentioned Joe Biden nearly 900 times this year—roughly three times a day.

A Reuters review found Trump has invoked Biden by name at least 890 times since January 1, across nearly 200 events and interviews and in around 190 Truth Social posts.

Biden, who has largely retired from public life after being diagnosed with stage four cancer, has become Trump’s go-to target for problems ranging from inflation and immigration to military shortages and foreign policy.

Trump has blamed him at least 210 times over the economy, 168 times over immigration and 138 times over foreign policy and national security.

He even brought up Biden at Melania Trump’s movie premiere, the National Prayer Breakfast and the White House Easter Egg Roll. His daily record came at the July NATO summit, when he mentioned Biden 16 times.

Trump has also invoked Biden at least 37 times over the Iran war, accusing him of failing to confront Tehran and helping “create a monster with Iran”.

He has blamed Biden for international crises at least 138 times, including Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan and China.

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Former Biden White House official Meghan Hays described Trump’s focus as an “obsession”.

“Nine hundred mentions in less than a year isn’t governing, it’s an obsession. Joe Biden beat him once and Trump still hasn’t gotten over it. He’s more focused on re-litigating 2020 than lowering the cost of gas and groceries for the American people,” she told Reuters.

Trump’s repeated attacks on Biden come as Republicans head into the November 3 midterms.

While midterms are historically difficult for the party in power, things have been particularly bleak for the Republicans amid Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.

The conflict, launched in February without congressional authorization, has sent energy prices sharply higher.

AAA puts the national average for regular gasoline at about $4.48 a gallon, up from $4.14 over Labor Day weekend, while diesel has hit a record $6.49 a gallon.

As prices rise, polling indicates that the Republicans are set to lose control of the House in November. Democrats currently hold a 5-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, leading Republicans 50 percent to 45 percent in the latest NBC News survey.

But Trump has sought to boost support for his party and shift attention from rising prices by repeatedly blaming Biden for inflation, even though Biden left office more than a year ago.

“I hope everyone ​realizes that price increases throughout America were caused by Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Administration, not by ‘TRUMP,’” the president posted on Truth Social last week.

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A Harvard CAPS/Harris survey found that 62 percent blame the current state of the economy on Trump rather than his predecessor.

“Donald Trump always needs a foil, and it’s better to have a single person than a party,” Republican strategist Ryan Williams told Reuters. “He’s done this throughout his time in office. He can use it to try to deflect any problems he’s currently facing.”

But Republican strategist Charlie Black has warned that strategy will not work.

“Politics is always about the future and never about the past, so blaming your predecessor does not work. Especially for an incumbent. He must defend his own record to help his party,” Black told Reuters.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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