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Notes -
I really don't think this matters all that much, except maybe to knock out the last gasp hopes of the Kamala campaign. (The Puerto Rico joke also didn't matter, mattered even less, except that it gave some Kamala operatives final hope for one last great push.)
There have been a thousand stories in the recent past where more and more of the American public is criticized by America's elected officials. What's one more? But somebody's going to lose this game of hot potato eventually, and Democrats are going to have a generational struggle to fix things if they're the last ones holding it.
How could it not matter? You have the head of the government and the Democratic Party literally calling Trump supporters garbage. I mean if I wanted to get any base riled up, I’d call them garbage.
Does this shift Trump supporters at all? They believe, with reasonable evidentiary support, that Democrats see them as garbage already. This is just another piece.
I think even going with "Biden is saying it to sabotage the Harris campaign out of bitterness/revenge" would probably shift more people, sheerly out of demoralization.
It increases the likelihood of the right voting. It’s motivation to get your butt to the polls to vote against a regime that calls you garbage.
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