Trump team sees edge in linking Biden to China
President Donald Trump's campaign is preparing to launch a broad effort aimed at linking Joe Biden to China, after concluding that it would be more politically effective than defending or promoting Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision by top campaign advisers, which has met pushback from some White House officials and donors, reflects polling showing a declining approval rating for Trump among key groups and growing openness to supporting Biden in recent weeks, according to officials familiar with the data who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The shift represents a remarkable acknowledgment by aides to a self-described a "wartime president," leading during what might have been a rally-around-the-flag moment, to effectively decide it is better to go on the attack than focus on his own achievements. Campaign polling found more than three-quarters of voters blamed China for the coronavirus outbreak, underscoring the potential benefits of tying the presumptive Democratic nominee to Beijing.
Democrats say they welcome the China focus chosen by Trump, since they believe they can use it to highlight what they view as Trump's mismanagement of the crisis, including the president's past kind words for President Xi Jinping's handling of the early days of the virus spread. "When Donald Trump was buying China's spin about containment of the virus, Joe Biden publicly warned him not to believe them," Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said. "Now the American people are suffering and our economy is in meltdown."
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Trump-team-sees-edge-in-linking-Biden-to-China-15210585.php
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