Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him on Threads at www.threads.net/@deanobeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.
It’s a tale of two campaign ads that perfectly sum up the contest between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Biden’s new campaign commercial concentrates on how his policies have helped — and will continue — to help Americans. In contrast, the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner’s recent campaign commercial focuses on helping one person: Donald J. Trump.
Biden’s ad campaign will be airing this month in battleground states. Titled “Fought Back,” it begins by reminding Americans of the pandemic that was plaguing our nation at the time of his inauguration in 2021. It was “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” the ad’s announcer tells us. But then “America fought back,” with the ad crediting Biden-championed policies that helped create a robust economy and bring unemployment down, such as the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Yet even in this commercial, Biden credits Americans for achievements such as the remarkably low unemployment rate — 3.5% in July — noting that “he knows it’s the American people who are the heroes of this story.”
The only reference to Trump is a quick image of him with the spoken words, “There are some who say America is failing … not Joe Biden. He believes our best days are ahead because he believes in the American people.” The ad concludes with an upbeat, hopeful Biden declaring, “It’s never, ever been a good bet to bet against America.”
What a striking contrast with Trump’s angry, dark and misleading ad released earlier this month that focuses on attacking the prosecutors investigating him. The ad begins with the nonsense that Biden is somehow orchestrating investigations by special counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis.
As fact-checkers have noted, the ad focuses the bulk of its ire on Willis, dubbing this official elected in 2020 as “Biden’s newest lackey.” (A grand jury in Fulton County indicted Trump and 18 others last week on state charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia.) The Trump ad then spews the inflammatory and baseless claim that Willis was in a relationship with a gang member. The commercial concludes with the words, “I’m Donald J. Trump, and I approve this message.”
Of course, Trump approves of the ad. This commercial is in perfect keeping with his theme of vengeance against those who dare attempt to hold him accountable and with making everything about himself.
In March, Trump delivered a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference indicating that his 2024 campaign theme was about “retribution.” He told the cheering crowd, “In 2016, I declared, ‘I am your voice.’ Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice,” continuing ominously, “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.”
And while Trump may touch on other issues in long, meandering speeches at his rallies, his focus and passion are on himself and revenge. For example, after his arraignment on federal charges of election interference in 2020 in early August, he called Jack Smith, the special counsel, a “deranged, sick person” while declaring, “The only civil rights that have been violated in this matter are my civil rights.”
In late July in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump vowed that if elected again he would appoint a special prosecutor “to expose the monumental corruption of the Biden crime family once and for all” while urging primary opponents against House Republicans who fail to join efforts to investigate and try to impeach Biden. It’s all about revenge against those he feels have wronged him, not helping our nation.
Trump’s recent posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, tell the same story: It’s all about Trump, not America. They praise Republicans who defend him and slam those who don’t, while attacking anyone he views responsible for the 91 felony charges against him, from Biden to the prosecutors. (Trump has denied wrongdoing in all four criminal cases against him.)
In the midst of his attacks, he shares polls that show him leading the 2024 GOP field, and in a moment of absolute narcissism, he even posted a video clip of himself Saturday hitting a golf shot at his private club in New Jersey that landed 10 feet from the hole.
Apparently, the Trump-related super PAC MAGA Inc. takes a different tack. By law, these political action committees are not permitted to coordinate with the campaigns. While Trump’s campaign ad focuses on attacking prosecutors, a new MAGA Inc. ad coming out this week praises the former president’s economic and border policies while taking on Biden.
Now to be fair, Biden’s ad touts his legislative achievements and the economy, and it’s designed to help his political fortunes in 2024. The new ad blitz is seeking to counter some voters’ perceptions that the economy isn’t improving under his administration despite strong economic indicators. But the tone of this new ad campaign is quintessential Biden. It’s upbeat and accurate and shows that Americans working together can achieve anything.
What a contrast with Trump’s “I am your retribution” theme. His isn’t a message of someone running to be president of all Americans. It’s one of an angry and bitter person who is demanding vengeance if he wins in 2024.
