Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images
When Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed Kamala Harris, Donald Trump’s first public statement sounded fairly reserved. He got on the phone with CNN and said Biden was the “worst president” ever and that he would beat Harris with ease.
That tone soon dissipated. Trump spent the remainder of Sunday on a tear on his social-media app Truth Social, diving into his usual mix of conspiracy theories and punch-line insults.
It began on Sunday afternoon with a few digs at “Crooked Joe Biden.” In a fascinating use of capital letters, Trump wrote Biden had “only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement.” After posting a photo of his ear bandage post–assassination attempt, Trump wrote that Biden was “annihilated in an Earth Shattering Debate” and that “Corrupt and Radical Democrats are throwing him overboard.”
“Crooked Joe just got knocked out, so now I’ll have to do it a FOURTH TIME!!!” Trump wrote, describing his third run for the presidency.
The Germanic capitalization in action.
Trump then began the conspiracy talk. “Does anybody really believe that Crooked Joe had Covid?” he asked, suggesting that Biden’s positive test last week was an excuse to get him off the ballot after the debate made it impossible for Democrats to avoid the age question. For the next debate, Trump said he now wants to change the host from “George Slopadopolus” at ABC News to a more friendly venue at Fox News. At 10:19 p.m., Trump went with a new angle: “Tomorrow Crooked Joe Biden’s going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today!”
On Monday at 6:05 a.m., Trump was back at it. In the quiet of the morning, he almost felt for Biden: After years of complaining that the 2020 election had been stolen, Trump wrote that the Democratic Party had stolen “the race from Biden after he won it in the primaries.” A few minutes later, he went back to a joke from the night before: “It’s a new day and Joe Biden doesn’t remember quitting the race yesterday!” So far, and without a campaign rally on the calendar until Wednesday, he has not yet unleashed his ire for the presumptive nominee, Kamala Harris. Maybe he is waiting until after lunch.
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