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The Biden campaign plans to hammer President Trump this week with targeted attacks in battleground states where COVID-19 infection rates are rising — including Florida and North Carolina.
The big picture: A campaign official said the attacks, delivered in press calls and high-level surrogate virtual events, will focus on his reopening of the economy.
In a statement to Axios, Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield previewed the Biden campaign's message for this week:
- "Donald Trump profoundly failed our nation by refusing to act on countless warnings from his own experts and from Joe Biden as the coronavirus outbreak spread around the world."
- "Trump's lack of a coherent response to the worst public health crisis in generations has cost almost 115,000 Americans their lives, triggered historic job losses, and thrown our nation into chaos..."
- "[I]nstead of finally doing his job and helping the country safely reopen, the virus is resurgent in nearly 20 states and the president is AWOL without a plan while still not rushing to give states the testing, contact tracing, and other resources they need to get this under control and repair the terrible damage his incompetence has wrought on our economy."
Trump campaign's response: "Biden has been lobbing ineffective partisan bombs from his basement, trying to undermine confidence in the federal response, and has sought relevance where there is none," said the Trump campaign's communications director Tim Murtaugh.
- "Voters know that President Trump built the American economy to unprecedented heights before it was artificially interrupted, and he will do it again."
- "As the record 2.5 million jobs created in May prove, the Great American Comeback is already underway. Joe Biden is actively rooting against a recovery, knowing that good news for Americans is bad for him..."
- "On all economic issues, President Trump wins hands-down, and voters know it."