2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is firing back at President Donald Trump following his recent news conference in the Rose Garden.
On Tuesday evening, Kate Bedingfield — Biden’s deputy campaign manager and communications director — released a statement suggesting taxpayers be reimbursed for Trump’s campaign-style press briefing that she described as an “abuse of funds.”
“The American taxpayer should be reimbursed for the abuse of funds this spectacle represented,” Bedingfield wrote.
Although Trump was initially expected to focus on the strict measures his administration plans to impose on China for cracking down on Hong Kong, the president spent a good portion of his air time focusing on another area of politics.
Trump criticized Biden for policy work with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). According to Bedingfield, Trump mentioned Biden’s name “nearly 30 times” although the briefing was not supposed to be centered on campaign-related rhetoric.
“Today’s statement that was ostensibly supposed to be about China, but there was one topic that President Trump couldn’t seem to get off his mind: Joe Biden, whose name the President invoked nearly 30 times,” Bedingfield said, adding, “The whole sad affair says more about Donald Trump than he said about any particular topic.”
President Trump is giving a campaign speech in the Rose Garden — filled with attacks on Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/A3seLL0vCk
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) July 14, 2020
"He never did anything — except make very bad decisions."
— The Hill (@thehill) July 15, 2020
President Trump uses Rose Garden event on Tuesday to repeatedly attack Biden https://t.co/kgoGpXW4JT pic.twitter.com/SAd5jlgAKQ
Bedingfield’s statement comes amid criticism about Trump’s press briefing. While the Hatch Act does prohibit government workers from engaging in political pursuits in places like the White House and on Capitol Hill, the 1933 law does not directly restrict the president.
However, it is recommended that the president limit attacks on other opponents to when they are campaigning outside of the premises of executive compounds. These forms of rebuttals should also be conducted on the campaign’s time with their own funds, according to the Washington Examiner.
The president is facing backlash because he opted to repeatedly confront Biden on White House premises in the Rose Garden.
“What we heard in the Rose Garden today wasn’t a president at all,” Bedingfield said. “It was a politician who sees his re-election slipping away from him and who is furious that his own botched response to the coronavirus pandemic has denied him the campaign events he so craves.”
Trump has yet to publicly respond to the statement released by Biden’s campaign, as of publication.