Why didn't Trump hammer Biden on his support for the Iraq War the way he did Clinton?

[sting in the rafters]

Throughout 2016 Trump used Clinton's support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq as another way to paint her as a tool of the failed political establishment. Obviously Biden was even more hawkish than Clinton, regurgitating the Bush administrations claims of WMDs as well as marshaling support in the Senate. Why didn't Trump come out against Joey the same way? I understand foreign policy played almost no role in the 2020 campaign, though even that small of a differentiation could've made the difference in a close election.

[Kamala's side hoe]

I understand foreign policy played almost no role in the 2020 campaign, though even that small of a differentiation could've made the difference in a close election.

I’m pretty sure foreign policy helped Trump as the R incumbent among nonwhite voters.

[darklordoftech]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

[If my soul was made of stone]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If someone still held a grudge over what became of Bork's nomination, it's hard to imagine them considering a vote for Biden even if they hadn't been specifically reminded of his role in the proceedings.

[sting in the rafters]

I understand foreign policy played almost no role in the 2020 campaign, though even that small of a differentiation could've made the difference in a close election.

I’m pretty sure foreign policy helped Trump as the R incumbent among nonwhite voters.

True, much has been made of Big T's strong support with Cubans for his hard-line on communism. Though I wonder how much of that was Trump doing historically well with self-described conservatives in general.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Because Trump ran a garbage campaign yet still almost won...

[Motorcity]

Because the Obama administration, which Biden is linked to, pulled out of Iraq. Obama criticized Clinton for her support of the Iraq war. Iraq was not an issue for Biden

Plus, Trump has been president for 4 years. He was the incumbent. He has to run on his record more than attacking his opponent. Calling Biden out on Iraq would suggest the US is still dealing with the consquences of Iraq, which would make Trump look bad and incapable of fixing it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Because the Obama administration, which Biden is linked to, pulled out of Iraq. Obama criticized Clinton for her support of the Iraq war. Iraq was not an issue for Biden

Plus, Trump has been president for 4 years. He was the incumbent. He has to run on his record more than attacking his opponent. Calling Biden out on Iraq would suggest the US is still dealing with the consquences of Iraq, which would make Trump look bad and incapable of fixing it.

This.

[darklordoftech]

Because the Obama administration, which Biden is linked to, pulled out of Iraq. Obama criticized Clinton for her support of the Iraq war. Iraq was not an issue for Biden

Plus, Trump has been president for 4 years. He was the incumbent. He has to run on his record more than attacking his opponent. Calling Biden out on Iraq would suggest the US is still dealing with the consquences of Iraq, which would make Trump look bad and incapable of fixing it.

Yet instead of running on, “Here are my accomplishments”, Trump ran on “Biden has dimentia and wants to defund the police.”

[Bootes Void]

They did it in the primary and had no effect. Also Trump had Iraq war supporters in his cabinet

[brucejoel99]

They did it in the primary and had no effect. Also Trump had Iraq war supporters in his cabinet

Himself among them, given that he too initially supported the war, no matter his false after-the-fact claims to the contrary.

[sting in the rafters]

They did it in the primary and had no effect. Also Trump had Iraq war supporters in his cabinet

Himself among them, given that he too initially supported the war, no matter his false after-the-fact claims to the contrary.

I mean Pence strongly supported the war as much as any neocon but that didn’t stop
him from attacking Hillary

[Mr. Smith]

Iraq only came up because Jeb! entered the race.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Clinton's vote for the war had lost her the Democratic primary in 2008. She had a reputation as a liberal hawk and Biden was supposed to have been on the dovish side of the Obama administraiton.

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

[Motorcity]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

[darklordoftech]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

Pulled out of the TPP, renegotiated NAFTA

[Motorcity]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

Pulled out of the TPP, renegotiated NAFTA

Neither of which are known by most Americans nor would be noticed in 2-4 years

Trump slashed social spending like foodstamps and education. Tried to cut Obamacare without replacment. Made things harder for Unions. Didn't bother with infrastructure or minmum wage. He promsied he would leave entiltments alone and guess what, he proposed budgets to cut them

These things are much more noticable and the opposite of populist.

Hence Trump running a more tradational Republican campaign in 2020. Being "tough on crime" and good for the economy

[darklordoftech]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

Pulled out of the TPP, renegotiated NAFTA

Neither of which are known by most Americans nor would be noticed in 2-4 years

It’s the campaign’s job to make people notice things that benefit the candidate and keep those things in the news cycle.

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

He could still hammer Biden on wars, trade, wall street and more.

[Motorcity]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

He could still hammer Biden on wars, trade, wall street and more.

How? No one thought Biden was going to start any wars or get into any free trade agreements. Biden was part of the Obama team that took us out of Iraq. Plus literally everyone in the country thought that trade was Trump's greatest strenght and no Democrat would run on the TPP lol

And the previous few years were the best ever for Wall Street. No one in the country thought Trump was tough even thoiugh he promised that in 2016

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

He could still hammer Biden on wars, trade, wall street and more.

How? No one thought Biden was going to start any wars or get into any free trade agreements. Biden was part of the Obama team that took us out of Iraq. Plus literally everyone in the country thought that trade was Trump's greatest strenght and no Democrat would run on the TPP lol

And the previous few years were the best ever for Wall Street. No one in the country thought Trump was tough even thoiugh he promised that in 2016

Trump can talk about how Biden supported the War on Terror or how he continues to support NAFTA and the TPP.

[Motorcity]

I was wondering about this too. This also goes for Biden’s vote for NAFTA, his support for the TPP after Hillary turned against it, his anti-gun record, his role in stopping Robert Bork from being confirmed to the SCOTUS, etc.

If Trump had gone populist again, he would have won in a landslide. Trump's campaign was downright AWFUL but he still barely lost.

How could Trump have gone populist? He went right and conservative as President so now one would belive him

He could still hammer Biden on wars, trade, wall street and more.

How? No one thought Biden was going to start any wars or get into any free trade agreements. Biden was part of the Obama team that took us out of Iraq. Plus literally everyone in the country thought that trade was Trump's greatest strenght and no Democrat would run on the TPP lol

And the previous few years were the best ever for Wall Street. No one in the country thought Trump was tough even thoiugh he promised that in 2016

Trump can talk about how Biden supported the War on Terror or how he continues to support NAFTA and the TPP.

Let me explain this to you, respectfully

2020 was not 2016. The difference was Trump was the incumbent. He had to run a different campaign because he wasn't the insurgent anymore. Its a different playbook. Trump could have done somethings better and it may have cost him the election.

The OP asked why Trump did not attack Biden on certain issues. As me and other posters have explained, Trump was the incumbent so he could not say anything that would suggest he was incapable of handling it

1. Iraq: Trump attacking Biden on Iraq would suggest Iraq was still an issue and Trump was incapable of handling it. Plus, Iraq is no longer an issue for most Americans and hasn't been since 2008. Even if it was, Biden was instrumental in bringing US troops home. Thats more recent than his 2003 vote to invade. The Iraq vote could have hurt him in the primaries, but it didn't. People just didn't care anymoe

2. Trade: Biden supports the USMCA. Attacking him would mean attacking Trump's own plan. Historically, Biden has been a friend to labor. He did vote for NAFTA, but voted against other deals. Most Americans don't know what the TPP because its dead. And since its universally recongized that trade was Trump's greatest asset in 2016, every Democrat has moved away from tree trade deals. People see that. No one really thought that Biden was going to push for more trade deals, not anyone who would vote Democrat.

3. Wall Street Its laughable someone would think Trump would attack Biden on Wall Street. Trump gave Wall Street the best years ever plus a huge tax cut.


These reasons are why Trump focused on "tough on crime". "

He would maintain law and order, he said. Biden would raise taxes. Biden is a trojan horse for the far left. Biden would slow down econimc recovery."

Had Trump focused on these things he might have won. But he decided to act like a child at the first debate and attack Biden's health and family, costing him the election.

[Non Swing Voter]

I don't think a message like that would get through when everything was about covid, the economy, and Trump's personality.  It would have gotten lost as noise.