'Mired in the past': Trump’s Biden obsession won’t erase 'historic levels of pessimism'

30 April

President Donald Trump at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland (Gage Skidmore, Flickr)

During a Tuesday, April 29 MAGA rally in Michigan marking the first 100 days of his second presidency, Donald Trump repeatedly attacked former President Joe Biden.

Trump, according to Washington Post opinion columnist Dana Milbank, mentioned Biden by name no less than 21 times. And nine other times, he referenced him using insulting nicknames like "Sleepy Joe" and "Crooked Joe."

In his April 30 column, Milbank stresses that attacking Biden doesn't erase Trump's own record.

"(Trump's) tariffs have destabilized markets and brought historic levels of pessimism to American businesses and consumers," Milbank observes. "His policies have alienated allies and emboldened Russia and China. He has the lowest approval rating that any president in generations has experienced at this stage of his presidency."

Milbank continues, "So what did Trump do to mark his 100th day in office? He renewed his campaign against Biden…. Here was a president with so little to say about his own achievements that he dwelled on the imagined failures of another man: 'Sleepy Joe, the worst president in history.… Biden had no control.… Joe Biden was down 35 points. The debate was not a good one for him.… Whoever operated the autopen was the real president."

Trump, Milbank observes, "spent the night" in Michigan blaming "Biden for his own problems."

"For 100 days," Milbank argues, "he has run the country with authoritarian sweep, unconstrained by Congress, with its subservient GOP majority, or by concern for what is legal or constitutional. If things aren’t going well, he has nobody to blame but himself…. Perhaps they had come seeking reassurance about their present troubles — only to hear from a man mired stubbornly in the past."

Dana Milbank's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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