Should Joe Biden get in the gutter with Donald Trump?

The general election begins.

(A pig. In slop.)

A long time ago, while watching Donald Trump’s rise, a Republican political consultant told me this: Don’t get down in the mud with a pig. You get shit all over you — and the pig loves it.

I was thinking of that, um, colorful metaphor after watching the early days of the 2024 general election — and how President Joe Biden and his team are choosing to engage with the former president.

CNN’s Alayna Treene wrote about the White House strategy:

As he looks ahead to a likely rematch in November, Biden has laid out the stakes of the election in as stark terms as any American election ever. But as serious as he is about what’s at stake for democracy in 2024, aides to the president’s reelection campaign tell CNN that the needling will keep up as they shift fully into general election mode – even if it prompts criticism that the president has let himself be dragged into Trump’s way of playing politics.

Part of it is personal: Biden enjoys mocking an opponent he finds so offensive. Part of it is strategic: the president and his campaign operatives are hoping to trigger a man well known for watching his own coverage, obsessing over what people say about him or responding in ways the Biden team hopes will make him look ridiculous and give them more grist for attacks.

Proving the point, Biden’s official Twitter X account responded to the TV version of Treene’s story with a troll of Melania Trump’s famous/infamous anti-bullying slogan:

Which, to me, is interesting!

Because, honestly, not that many candidates have prospered from stooping to Trump’s low levels on the campaign trail.

The most prominent example is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Rubio, trying to narrow the race to a one-on-one contest with Trump in the 2016 primary, decided to go deeply negative — and decidedly personal on the billionaire businessman.

“He's like 6’2” which is why I don't understand why his hands are the size of someone who is 5’2”,” Rubio said. “Have you seen his hands? You know what they say about men with small hands…..You can’t trust them. You can’t trust them.”

Trump, of course, responded — in a debate no less! “I have to say this, he hit my hands,” said Trump. “Nobody has ever hit my hands. I’ve never heard of this one. Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands if they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee you.”

Yes, that really happened.

Rubio also went after Trump’s appearance. “He put out a picture of having makeup put on me at the debate,” the Florida Republican said. “Which is amazing to me that the guy with the worst spray tan in America is attacking me for putting on makeup. Donald Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whoever did that to his face with that.”

It didn’t work. Trump romped through the primaries. Rubio eventually endorsed Trump (because of course he did!). And, Rubio admitted he regretted getting into the dirt with Trump.

“In terms of things that have to do with personal stuff, yeah, at the end of the day it’s not something I’m entirely proud of,” he said. ”My kids were embarrassed by it, and if I had to do it again I wouldn’t.” 

Not everyone has been so unsuccessful.

The Lincoln Project, a group of (mostly) Never Trump Republicans, has succeeded, repeatedly, in getting under Trump’s skin with highly personal attacks.

In one ad, entitled “Feeble,” the group used images and statements from Trump himself to paint the former president as out of it and mentally failing.

Trump, um, did not take kindly to it.

(There was no artificial intelligence used in the ad.)

Over Christmas, the Lincoln Project launched another ad — this one going after Trump’s, um, scent.

Which is, I suppose, all well and good for the Lincoln Project. (They are a FOR-profit organization — and it is VERY good for their business to go after Trump in the most personal terms possible. People who hate Trump love that, er, stuff.)

But, I genuinely wonder whether it will work for a sitting president. (Worth noting: Biden hasn’t gone after how Trump smells. Yet.)

After all, Biden pledged — repeatedly — that he would restore dignity and honor to the White House. That he would do better (and be better) than Trump.

“We can treat each other with dignity and respect,” he said in his inaugural address. “We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.”

How does that work when you are exchanging body blows — and even shots below the belt — with the former president every single day? I honestly am not sure.

Then there’s this: You will NEVER go as low as Trump will go. Never.

Consider that Trump has a) suggested that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of JFK b) called Cruz’s wife ugly c) suggested Hillary Clinton was sick with some sort of terminal illness d) said Biden is a puppet and Barack Obama is the real president.

He will say and do literally anything to win. Biden will never match that; no matter how down and dirty he gets, he simply isn’t going to stoop all the way to Trump’s level.

And, I return to my point at the top of this post: If you roll around in shit with a pig, you get dirty — and the pig loves it.

Trump loves this shit — literally. He wants to bring you down to his level. To turn the presidential race into a knife fight, a battle of who can insult the other best (and most). He wants voters to throw their hands up and say “Both of these guys are awful.” That’s how he wins.

Which isn’t to say the Biden campaign’s strategy of trying to get under Trump’s skin won’t work. Or isn’t smart — to a point. Trump is incredibly sensitive — especially about his appearance — and easily brought to anger. And, usually, an angry candidate is a bad candidate.

I am just raising the possibility that Biden needs to be careful in just how far he goes down that road. Because Trump tends to be judged by a different standard than ANY other politician in the country. He can say and do things no one else can, without major repercussions. Biden won’t enjoy that same leeway.