The Biggest Loser

A Biden-Trump rematch in 2024 would get ugly.

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Former President Donald Trump shakes hands with President Joe Biden at the former's inauguration on January 20, 2017. (Photo by Jonathan Newton /The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The argument against Donald Trump from many of his rivals in the Republican nominating contest is that the former president will lose in the general election and drag his party down with him.

But the most effective argument in favor of renominating President Joe Biden on the Democratic side is that no one other than Biden can be relied upon to beat Trump.

The two arguments are in direct tension and will need to be resolved in the minds of the two electorates in the coming months. 

If Biden is so weak that among the GOP candidates, only Trump could lose to him, Republican voters will feel freer to take a chance on a lesser-known candidate. This is how Trump’s emphasis on corruption and his martyrdom serves his own electability argument. The system is so rigged that only I can survive it … 

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  1. Mjg in Michigan

    Identify a single class of voters, or even a single voter that Trump has ADDED to his total in the last 2 years! In 2020, we had a huge turnout and Trump supporters were in the minority. Is there any reason for a change? For the GOP to win (an objective I share), Trump has to leave the scene, and let us run a sane Republican against a senile placeholder for Kamela Harris.

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    1. Georges

      Agree Trump has to leave. Getting rid of him is problematic: he will not leave on his own volition.
      There is also substantial reorg work to be done in the gop: what do they stand for, what do they oppose?

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  2. Ken Motamed

    "The system is so rigged that only I can survive it." I don't know how this argument is convincing when Trump couldn't survive the "rigged" system in 2020. Will the system be less rigged in '24 or will Trump be a better candidate this time around?

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    The Stray Goose

    IF

    Biden v. Trump - Biden wins

    Biden v. any other Republican - Biden wins. Trump will tell his supporters to stay home. Enjoy four more years of Biden Harris.

    If Biden wants to seal the deal early, he'll dump Harris and pick somebody that's competent (like LITERALLY anyone else).

    If Trump supports the Republican candidate, there's no way Biden can win. Anyone on the Republican list will beat Biden in a landslide.

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    1. Ken Motamed

      I don't know about a landslide, but my money will be on the non-Trump GOP candidate.

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        The Stray Goose

        Ok. That might be the worst example of hyperbole ever!

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    BillAZ

    That's a pretty depressing read on the election.

    Harris is obviously a drag on the ticket. If Biden should dump her and find a more "viable" VP that doesn't make everyone contemplating Biden's mortality clutch their rosary or lucky rabbit's foot does that make 2024 a lock for Biden? Or would it still be a close thing?

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    1. Ken Motamed

      There's no way Biden would dump Harris. And even if he did, he would still be locked into his identity politics of picking a black woman.

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        BillAZ

        That would just so visibly pathetic - not to mention "My African-American..." level offensive - I don't think that would occur. Does Harris even have a devoted constituency?

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          Dan Baldwin

          She does--the black women of the South. They may not like Harris personally as she did oversee and enforce a lot of programs that locked up a lot of young black men. But, it's the emotional significance of having a Black progressive woman a heartbeat away from the presidency. Vice President Harris is a living symbol of identity and power for the black community, and for progressives. Biden is locked in until he dies, or loses.

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  5. Georges

    "But the most effective argument in favor of renominating President Joe Biden on the Democratic side is that no one other than Biden can be relied upon to beat Trump."

    Really? This is an honest self appraisal of Democrats that Joe Biden is the best they've got to run against a [still hypothetical candidate] Donald Trump?
    Well, ok, it's not stating Joe Biden is the best they've got, period. It does come close to that though.
    This boggles the mind.

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    1. Hikingguy

      Tommy Tuberville (R) AL is STILL blocking promotions in the armed forces of the USA because politics. We can't throw him out of we don't live in Alabama. Vote Blue if you don't. Stop Republican religious fascists. Whatever it takes short of war.

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      1. Ken Motamed

        Democrats are religious fascists too. Only, their religion is wokism.

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        1. Hikingguy

          Who is the bigger threat, Ken? Spend a little time on Righty Christian media. Those guys are talking guns. Define Wokism. Show me where the Woke are threatening to kill people who don't think right. Then check out say, Rev Gary Locke. Compare and contrast.

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          1. Georges

            Please provide some links to websites where such things are being threatened.

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    Ben Connelly

    No real libertarian is voting for RFK Jr. The guy has said he wants to use the criminal justice system to target libertarians and conservatives because he thinks the free market is bad for the environment.

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    Phil Pennington

    I just saw a TIME cover photo of Ron “The DeSantis Project” DeSantis pealing an orange, with a bit of a lip curl, a bit of menace. Perhaps a woke orange? I’m not a fan, but I think it fair to say it’s hilarious, utterly mockable. I don’t know if you could use it, Chris, but candidate for a cut line contest?

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  8. Kellyg2479

    I pray nightly that Trump is not our candidate. He is, as this writing predicts, the only candidate who can possibly lose to Biden. Biden beat him from his basement last time despite the former President's assertions. I know Biden is much more feeble now but Trump will have multiple indictments by then. Most Americans do not see that as a positive.

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    1. Ken Motamed

      Not to mention his daily all-caps rants and incessant lies.

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    Honest Ape

    The caption for the photo at the top of Stirewalt's piece reads:

    "Former President Donald Trump shakes hands with President Joe Biden at the former's inauguration on January 20, 2017."

    Please help me out here those of you who are familiar with proper journalism standards.... For the sake of historical accuracy, wouldn't it be better if the caption read something more like this:

    "Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump shakes hands with then former Vice-President Joe Biden on January 20, 2017." ?

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    1. Guycatelli1

      Yes.

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  10. Jaybrown

    ",,,having been the kind of young reporter who once wrote the lede of a story..." Ok, it used to be, for many, many years "the lead" since it was in the front of the story. What is with this ungrammatical dumb change? I see that it was originally confused with "lead" (the metal that was used in printing presses, but no longer makes sense). I guess it's been around for a while but to my eyes, it just seems illiterate.

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