New Biden ad slams Trump over Lafayette Square debacle


The Biden campaign has rolled out a searing new ad that takes aim at President Trump for using teargas and flash grenades on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square, near the White House, earlier this month. "The nation marches for justice, and like a deer in the headlights, [Trump is] paralyzed with fear," the narrator intones over footage of the George Floyd demonstrators. "He doesn't know what to do, so he hides in his bunker. Then he's afraid he looks too weak, so he has tear gas and flash grenades used on peaceful protesters just for a photo-op."
Biden's team has clearly seen Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the turmoil over Floyd's killing as an opening. The presumptive Democratic nominee escalated his Facebook spending this month, purchasing $5 million in advertising over a handful of days, nearly four times more than Trump. "It's great that the Biden campaign is seeing the activism that is going on in the streets and looking to capitalize on that online," Eric Ming, the former director of digital and paid media for Andrew Yang's presidential campaign, told The New York Times.
Trump is also using the unrest to try to set himself apart from Biden. Last weekend, "Trump retweeted a tweet of a state Senate candidate in Connecticut who showed photos of Trump walking through Lafayette Square, and another with Biden kneeling with the black pastors inside the church," The Washington Post reports. "'Leaders lead,' the caption read. 'Cowards kneel.'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raids
In the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classrooms
Pros and cons The devices could be major distractions
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants