REPUBLICANS ATTACK BIDEN’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES INSTEAD OF TARGETING BIDEN

…Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) at a Juneteenth march in Chicago.

The GOP thinks it’s better to attack the Dem’s VP candidate, instead of going after Joe Biden

If you have followed the news at all, you have been made aware of the Democratic Illinois Senator, Tammy Duckworth.  You will know that she was a US Army Lieutenant Colonel when the helicopter she was piloting was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade.  She earned a Purple Heart by losing both legs in that helicopter crash.

Speaking at a virtual fundraiser, Duckworth had said it was “disgusting & sickening” of Trump’s circle to question her patriotism.  She stated that it was a “reflection of the depravity of what’s going on in the White House right now.”

These comments by the senator started a back-and-forth from the Conservatives and the Liberals when Duckworth was asked on CNN about activists’ demands that statues of George Washington be removed because he owned slaves.  Duckworth replied that there should be a “national dialogue on it at some point,” and when pressed further, she added, “I think we should listen to everybody. I think we should listen to the argument there.”

But Trump’s man supporters at Fox News, including the Fox host, Tucker Carlson, who attacked Duckworth on his show, calling her “a deeply silly and unimpressive person” and suggesting that she and other Democratic leaders “actually hate America.”

Joe Biden then sharply criticized President Trump’s campaign for attacking Sen. Duckworth, escalating the conflict between Trump and the president, about someone that just happens to be one of Biden’s potential running mates.

After Biden’s comment about the president, Trump tweeted a clip of Tucker Carlson’s program.  His campaign then issued a statement from Scott O’Grady, the co-chair of Veterans for Trump, and Patrick Brady, a Medal of Honor recipient, charging that “after saying she was open to tearing down statues of George Washington, Tammy Duckworth is now using her military service to deflect from her support for the left-wing campaign to villainize America’s founding.”

The senator never said she was open to tearing the statues down, but that she was open to there being discussions on the issue and that everybody should be included.

The dispute highlighted Republicans’ growing eagerness to draw Biden into a fight on culturally sensitive issues and to attack his potential running mates. Some in Trump’s camp view them as better political targets than Biden, who is leading Trump in the polls by a significant margin.

Biden said last week that while statues of Confederate leaders belong in museums and not public places, he does not favor removing statues of Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Christopher Columbus.

The attacks on Duckworth also underlined the challenge facing the Democratic candidates who are jockeying to become Biden’s running mate, with Republicans looking for openings to attack them and highlight any differences they may have with Biden.

Duckworth has emerged as a serious contender in the Biden campaign’s vice presidential search, according to the people with knowledge of the VP candidate selection process. 

At a recent fundraiser, Duckworth received encouragement from former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. “If Joe has good advice, our next vice president,” he said of the Illinois Democrat. 

Biden has said he is aiming to pick a running mate by early August and that he will choose a woman. Duckworth, who is of Thai and Chinese descent, is one of several women of color in the running.

The fundraiser, officially called the “American Asian & Pacific Islander Virtual Event With Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Andrew Yang,” drew 540 participants. In her remarks, Duckworth criticized President Trump.

“Instead of trying to bring our country back together, he spent his time defending dead Confederates who took up arms against this nation and engaging in xenophobic and racist language geared towards many Americans, including the Asian American and Pacific Islander community,” she said.

Everyone has seen Trump make his push to preserve Confederate symbols, saying they are part of America’s history and opposing calls by activists to dismantle memorials to those who fought to preserve slavery.

A representative for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Biden’s or Duckworth’s criticism.

Tucker Carlson’s broadside offered a potential preview of a line of attack Republicans will likely use in an effort to undercut Biden. Carlson said on his show that Biden’s running mate will be the “actual presidential candidate” and Biden will be a “figurehead.” He presented no evidence for his claim, but some Republicans contend that at 77, Biden would be a weak and potentially short-term president, an assertion he forcefully rejects.

The former statements from O’Grady and Brady said that if Duckworth “can’t defend George Washington, our first Commander-in-Chief, those of us who still respect our Founding Fathers’ immense sacrifice and think America is worth fighting for will hold her accountable for cowering to the far-left fascists in the Democrat Party.”

At the fundraiser, Biden praised Duckworth as a patriot, paying tribute to her moral and physical bravery. “I can’t think of anyone who has shown more courage of both kinds. I really mean it, Tammy,” Biden said. “I’m grateful for you here with me in this fight.”

He added, “You’re the best. I love you.”

But so far, Senator Duckworth is just one of a number of potential female candidates that include: California Senator, Kamala Harris, Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Senator, Amy Klobuchar, Nevada Senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mass. Senator, Elizabeth Warren, Wisconsin ‘s Tammy Baldwin, Florida Rep, Val Demings, Georgia’s Stacy Abrams and New Mexico Governor, Michelle Grisham.

We probably won’t know who Joe has chosen until mid-August, 2020.

Copyright G. Ater 2020