U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during an event about lowering health care costs in the East Room of the White House on July 7, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
President Joe Biden paraded this week’s stock market record highs Friday in a new campaign video that trolled his predecessor, Donald Trump, for predicting a market collapse if Biden were elected.
“Good one, Donald,” Biden wrote in the post on X.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-President Trump claimed, “If Biden wins, you’re gonna have a stock market collapse the likes of which you’ve never had.”
The video replayed that clip, followed by soundbites of news anchors touting the stock market’s recent gains. One memorable snippet showed Larry Kudlow, Trump’s former top economic aide, marveling at the market’s performance on his Fox Business show.
“Uh, let’s just talk for a moment about the stock market. Boom,” Kudlow says.
Facing the prospect of a rematch with Trump in 2024, Biden is seizing on the stock market gains to try to get through to voters.
The video reflects a growing willingness by the Biden campaign to take direct aim at Trump, who leads the Republican primary field by more than 40 points.
It also reflects a shifting tone from the Biden campaign, which has spent the past year focused on a positive message and touting Biden’s economic gains and job creation.
But this strategy has so far failed to resonate with voters, polls show. A pivot to more negative campaign messages, and reminding voters of how Trump governed in office, could help to energize disaffected Democrats.
A poll last month from The New York Times and Siena College found voters trusted Trump — who inherited a stronger economy than Biden did and left office in the middle of the pandemic — over Biden, on the economy.