The Biden campaign is going after Donald Trump as a convicted felon as they gear up for the blockbuster first presidential debate - but some believe focusing too much on his criminal conviction could backfire.
On Monday, Biden's team announced a new ad titled 'Character Matters' as part of a $50 million ad blitz for the month of June. The ad will run in battleground states.
In the 30-second spot, the narrator takes direct aim at Trump for his criminal status and civil cases while contrasting him with Biden.
'In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is. He's been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault and he committed financial fraud,' the narrator says as images of Trump in court play across the screen.
It then goes on to tout Biden lowering health care costs and making big corporations pay up.
The Biden campaign released an ad titled 'Character Matters' which focuses on Trump's criminal conviction ahead of the first debate. It is part of the campaign's $50 million June ad spending which will target voters in battleground states
'This election is between a convicted criminal who's only out for himself and a president who's fighting for your family,' the narrator says.
Trump was convicted by a New York jury in April of falsifying business records to cover up a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet before the 2016 election.
He was also found liable of sexually assaulting columnist E Jean Carroll and ordered to pay damages now upwards of $83 million and for committing fraud by inflating the value of assets for years to get better loan terms.
President Biden and Donald Trump are set to come face-to-face at the first presidential debate on June 27 in Atlanta
'Trump approaches the first debate as a convicted felon who continues to prove that he will do anything and harm anyone if it means more power and vengeance for Donald Trump,' said Michael Tyler, communications director of the Biden campaign.
'That’s why he was convicted, that’s why he encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol on January 6, and it's why his entire campaign is an exercise in revenge and retribution,' Tyler continued.
Despite the conviction and other criminal cases against him, polls show an extremely close presidential race in which debate performance could be make or break for both men.
The new Biden ad highlights Trump's criminal conviction in New York as well as being found liable in two civil cases brought against him.
Biden's 'Character Matters' ad aims to contrast Trump while still touting Biden's priorities of lowering costs and making corporations 'pay their fair share'
Trump's guilty verdict has also become a rallying cry for the Republican presumptive presidential nominee's supporters.
At Trump campaign events, his loyal followers dismiss the conviction and other allegations and proudly declare they will 'vote for the felon.'
They wear t-shirts and hold signs that show his mug shot from the criminal election interference case in Georgia.
Some strategists believe Biden and Democrats calling Trump a convicted felon plays right into the ex-president's hands.
'It makes it easier for Trump to argue that Biden weaponized the justice system to interfere in the election, GOP strategist Matt Wolking told DailyMail.com.
'While the GOP is galvanized, low propensity voters are still focused on their economic self interest,' said strategist Leslie Sanchez, noting high prices and inflation.
A Trump supporter holding a sign of the ex-president's mugshot outside the Manhattan criminal court on the day he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records
After the conviction in New York, Trump's campaign said it raised more than $50 million in 24 hours for his reelection bid.
Trump had been trailing Biden when it came to fundraising for months, but the Trump campaign announced it had surpassed the president's fundraising totals last month. Federal election filings will be released later this month.
While the conviction sparked a fundraising windfall and enraged his loyal base, the polling following the guilty verdict has mixed results for the ex-president.
In an election where most base voters have made up their mind, 21 percent of Independents say Trump’s conviction on charges of falsifying business records make them less likely to support him.
Just 5 percent of Independents say it makes them more likely to support him, according to a new Politico/Ipsos survey.
But Trump’s attacks on prosecutors also appear to have sunk in.
While 51 percent do not believe the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg brought the charges in the Stormy Daniels case to gain political advantage for Biden, 43 percent believe he did.
Among crucial Independents, 50 percent do not believe the charges were to help Biden gain a political advantage, but 44 percent do believe Trump was prosecuted to help Biden, something Trump's team has been hammering since even before the guilty verdict came down.
