Biden Unleashes Withering New Trump Attack

After Hunter Biden was convicted, some pundits wondered whether it would make President Biden less likely to go after Donald Trump on that front. A $50 million ad campaign rolling out Monday suggests the answer is no.

• Brutal ad: The Biden campaign released a "Character Matters" ad that gets right to it, reports USA Today: "In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is: He's been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault, and he committed financial fraud," says the narrator. "Meanwhile, Joe Biden's been working." And its takeaway point: "This election is between a convicted criminal who's only out for himself and a president who's fighting for your family."

• Other components: The Biden campaign also rolled out spots aimed at voters struggling with higher prices, Black voters, and Asian-American voters, per the Washington Post. The June blitz comes 10 days before the candidates' first televised debate. Trump's campaign has not yet rolled out a national TV ad.
• Trump response: Trump's campaign says the ad calls attention to how Biden manipulated the system to attack a political rival. "Joe Biden and his campaign are stupid enough to highlight how they have weaponized the justice system to attack the leading presidential candidate and their opponent in order to interfere in the election," said spokesman Steven Cheung, per the New York Times. The newspaper notes that while Biden's campaign is not shying from the subject, Biden himself has not mentioned Trump's convictions much in speeches.

(More Election 2024 stories.)