Is there an impending showdown bash this week between Trump and Joe Biden in Iowa? The Republican incumbent and the Democratic hopeful are unlikely to bump in Iowa since Trump will be in the western part of the state and Biden in the eastern districts.
Still, both will be attempting to shore up their bases, and probably key their comments to their adversaries, particularly Biden who has already unleashed a barrage of anti-Trump remarks.
“You know, Donald Trump and I are both in Iowa today,” Biden wrote in prepared remarks Tuesday. “It wasn’t planned that way, but I hope Trump’s presence here will be a clarifying event.”
More to the point, Biden, who in the latest polls leads Sen. Bernie Sanders by only 8 percent, said, “Trump doesn’t get the basics. He thinks his tariffs are being paid by China. Any beginning econ student at Iowa or Iowa State could tell you that the American people are paying his tariffs. The cashiers at Target see what’s going on; they know more about economics than Trump.”
Biden’s appearance in Iowa comes after most of the 23 candidates attended an Iowa Hall of Fame dinner and his shunning being with the other candidates is becoming an expected tactic of the frontrunner.
Climate change and health care are also topics Biden will address in this important caucus state. “…Trump denies climate change,” Biden will say, according to his planned remarks. “What did he tell Piers Morgan in that interview? ‘Well, the weather goes both ways.’ It reminds me of when he tweeted in the winter that since it was cold outside there was no climate warming. Or how about when he said the way to deal with California’s fires was to rake the leaves? It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.”
On the other hand, Trump is sure to resort to the insults he has repeatedly tweeted about Biden, who he has referred to as “Sleepy Joe,” and not the brightest of the Democratic contenders.
Recent polls show that Biden leads Trump, who dismisses polls in the same way he dismisses climate change. Trump has said on more than one occasion that Biden will not be able to do the job and stand up to the leaders of China and North Korea.
Their appearances in Iowa should give some indication on how they will deal with each other should they end up facing off in 2020.