President Joe Biden's 2022 speech in Philadelphia on the threats facing democracy enraged former President Donald Trump so much, it caused him to jump off the sidelines and intervene in the midterm election in ways that harmed GOP candidates.
That's the view of former George W. Bush speechwriter and Never Trump conservative David Frum, who elaborated on his theory in an MSNBC segment with Jonathan Capehart and Charles Blow.
"You will remember that President Biden did give a major speech about the state of democracy on the eve of the 2022 congressional elections," said Frum. "The speech was in Philadelphia, the one with the ominous red lighting."
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"Red and blue," added Capehart.
"Yes, and the speech was intensely powerful because what it did is it goaded Donald Trump into intervening in the 2022 elections," continued Frum. "Remember, the Republican strategy had been keep him off stage. This is not about Trump. Trump would not be contained after that speech. I think there's a lot of evidence that Trump's re-emergence did damage to Republican candidates and was one of the reasons they had such a disappointing election in 2022. People remember Republicans did capture the House, but they forget the downballot disaster. They lost four state legislative chambers, something which hasn't happened to the out-party since the Depression."
"Charles is absolutely right about the mismatch between the political timing of the highly informed, highly attentive to politics and those who are less so," Frum added. "But the President of the United States speaks to those who are less so. And his timing has to match theirs. And that time is not now. That time will come, but it is not now."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
David Frum said Biden "goaded" Trump into sabotaging midterms for GOPwww.youtube.com
