{"id":80745,"date":"2025-07-21T13:44:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T13:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/80745\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T13:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T13:44:14","slug":"republicans-cant-stop-talking-about-joe-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/80745\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans can’t stop talking about Joe Biden"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 It\u2019s been six months since Joe Biden<\/a> left the Oval Office. Republicans, including President Donald Trump<\/a>, can\u2019t stop talking about him.<\/p>\n

The House has launched investigations<\/a> asserting that Biden\u2019s closest advisers covered up a physical and mental decline<\/a> during the 82-year-old<\/a> Democrat\u2019s presidency. The Senate has started a series of hearings<\/a> focused on his mental fitness. And Trump\u2019s White House has opened its own investigation<\/a> into the Biden administration\u2019s use of the presidential autopen<\/a>, which Trump has called \u201cone of the biggest scandals in the history of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all fits with Trump\u2019s practice of blaming his predecessors<\/a> for the nation\u2019s ills. Just last week, he tried to deflect criticism<\/a> of his administration\u2019s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> sex trafficking case by casting blame on others, including Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Turning the spotlight back on the former president carries risks for both parties heading into the 2026 midterms. The more Republicans or Democrats talk about Biden<\/a>, the less they can make arguments about the impact of Trump\u2019s presidency \u2014 positive or negative \u2014 especially his sweeping new tax cut and spending law<\/a> that is reshaping the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Americans consider Joe Biden to be yesterday\u2019s news,\u201d Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.<\/p>\n

Republicans want Biden\u2019s autopen to become a flashpoint<\/p>\n

Seeking to avenge his 2020 loss to Biden<\/a>, Trump mocked his rival\u2019s age and fitness incessantly in 2024, even after Biden dropped his reelection bid<\/a> and yielded to then-Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He and other Republicans seemed poised to spend the summer<\/a> touting their new tax, spending and policy package. But Trump, now 79 and facing his own health challenges<\/a>, has refused to let up on Biden, and his allies in the party have followed suit.<\/p>\n

Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin called the Biden White House\u2019s use of the autopen \u201ca massive scandal,\u201d while Republican Rep. Nick Lalota insists his New York constituents \u201care curious as to what was happening during President Biden\u2019s days.\u201d<\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt recently confirmed the administration would pursue an investigation of the Biden administration\u2019s use of the presidential autopen. Trump and other Republicans have questioned whether Biden was actually running the country<\/a> and suggested aides abused a tool that has long been a routine part of signing presidentially approved actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deserve to get to the bottom of it,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n

Biden has responded to the criticism by issuing a statement<\/a> saying he was, in fact, making the decisions during his presidency and that any suggestion otherwise \u201cis ridiculous and false.\u201d <\/p>\n

Congressional committees investigate<\/p>\n

On Capitol Hill, the House Oversight Committee has convened hearings on use of the autopen and Biden\u2019s fitness for office. Van Orden cited the Constitution\u2019s Article II vesting authority solely with the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t say chief of staff. It doesn\u2019t say an auto pen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The House panel subpoenaed Biden\u2019s physician<\/a> and a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden<\/a>. Both invoked Fifth Amendment protections that prevent people from being forced to testify against themselves in government proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no there there,\u201d said Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell of Missouri, a member of the committee who called the effort \u201can extraordinary waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s chairman, Rep. James Comer, wants to hear from former White House chiefs of staff<\/a> Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; and other former top aides Bruce Reed, Steve Ricchetti and Annie Tomasini, among others. Republicans confirmed multiple dates for the sessions through late September, ensuring it will remain in the headlines.<\/p>\n

Investigations could crowd out GOP efforts to define Trump positively<\/p>\n

That GOP schedule comes as both parties work feverishly to define Trump\u2019s start to his second term.<\/p>\n

His so-called \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d<\/a> is a mix of tax cuts, border security measures and cuts to safety net programs such as Medicaid<\/a>, a joint state-federal insurance program for lower-income Americans. Polls suggest some individual measures are popular while others are not and that the GOP faces headwinds on tilting the public in favor of the overall effort.<\/p>\n

A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a> found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults view the bill as a win for the wealthy<\/a> and another found that only about one-quarter of U.S. adults felt Trump\u2019s policies<\/a> have helped them. In the policy survey, he failed to earn majority support on any of the major issues, including the economy, immigration, government spending and health care. Immigration, especially, had been considered a major strength for Trump politically.<\/p>\n

It is \u201crather tone deaf,\u201d said Rep. Wesley Bell, a Missouri Democrat, for Republicans to go after Biden given those circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans want us to deal with the issues that are plaguing our country now \u2026 the high cost of living, cost of food, the cost of housing, health care,\u201d Bell said, as he blasted the GOP for a deliberate \u201cdistraction\u201d from what challenges most U.S. households.<\/p>\n

The effort also comes with Trump battling his own supporters over the Justice Department\u2019s decision<\/a> not to publicly release additional records related to the Epstein case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Epstein saga is more important to his base than whatever happened to Joe Biden,\u201d said Ayres, the GOP pollster.<\/p>\n

Even Lalota, the New York congressman, acknowledged a balancing act with the Biden inquiries.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy constituents care most about affordability and public safety,\u201d Lalota said. \u201cBut this is an important issue nonetheless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats don\u2019t want to talk about Biden<\/p>\n

With Republicans protecting a narrow House majority, every hotly contested issue<\/a> could be seen as determinative in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

That puts added pressure on Republicans to retain Trump\u2019s expanded 2024 coalition, when he increased support among Black and Hispanic voters<\/a>, especially men, over the usual Republican levels. But that\u2019s considerably harder without Trump himself on the ballot. That could explain Republican efforts to keep going after Biden given how unpopular he is with Trump\u2019s core supporters.<\/p>\n

Democrats, meanwhile, point to their success in the 2018 midterms<\/a> during Trump\u2019s first presidency, when they reclaimed the House majority on the strength of moderate voters, including disaffected Republicans. They seem confident that Republicans\u2019 aggressiveness about Biden does not appeal to that swath of the electorate.<\/p>\n

But even as they praise Biden\u2019s accomplishments as president, Democrats quietly admit they don\u2019t want to spend time talking about a figure who left office with lagging approval ratings and forced his party into a late, difficult change<\/a> at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Don Beyer<\/a> of Virginia said Biden was productive while acknowledging he \u201cwas not at the top of his game because of his age.\u201d He said Democrats want to look forward, most immediately on trying to win control of the House and make gains in the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then who\u2019s our standard bearer in 2028?\u201d Beyer said. \u201cAnd how do we minimize the Trump damage with what we have right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Brown reported from Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 It\u2019s been six months since Joe Biden left the Oval Office. Republicans, including President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":80746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[55420,55414,55416,69,90,57,2055,3270,39493,15053,55418,32071,82,27593,8133,55419,405,50,20232,80,55347,55417,55421,89,322,67,370,132,68,906,93,55415],"class_list":{"0":"post-80745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-anita-dunn","10":"tag-annie-tomasini","11":"tag-bruce-reed","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-elections","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-government-and-politics","16":"tag-health-care-costs","17":"tag-james-comer","18":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","19":"tag-jeffrey-zients","20":"tag-jill-biden","21":"tag-joe-biden","22":"tag-kamala-harris","23":"tag-karoline-leavitt","24":"tag-mike-donilon","25":"tag-new-york","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-nick-lalota","28":"tag-politics","29":"tag-public-opinion","30":"tag-ron-klain","31":"tag-steve-ricchetti","32":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","33":"tag-u-s-republican-party","34":"tag-united-states","35":"tag-united-states-government","36":"tag-unitedstates","37":"tag-us","38":"tag-virginia","39":"tag-washington-news","40":"tag-wesley-bell"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}