Overnight, President JOE BIDEN left his happy place — his ancestral homeland of Ireland — to head back to the states. It was a trip that was, by design, light on deliverables and heavy on vibes.
As our colleague Adam Cancryn puts it in his final colorful dispatch from the Emerald Isle, Biden came “to reaffirm its close relationship with the U.S. — and to reaffirm his own personal relationship with a place he credits for shaping him.” The Irish, he writes, affirmed him right back: “His age didn’t make him old, it provided him wisdom. His gaffes didn’t make him shaky, they gave him charm.”
“So what was it all about?” asks the Irish Times’ Pat Leahy in a wry and soulful wrapup of the four-day jaunt. “Perhaps the bigger message is that all the folksiness and chumminess are not just the mood music that surrounds the important bit — but that these things matter. They’re more than just malarkey, as Biden might say.”
But NYT’s Katie Rogers and Michael Shear saw some domestic resonance in Biden’s romp, which centered a message of unity and hope — the mood music of his expected re-election campaign:
“Throughout his trip, Mr. Biden used Ireland — with its shared democratic ideals, diverse and complicated political and sectarian history and its past as a nation whose people had searched for a better life abroad — to reiterate exactly what he sees at the core of both countries: ‘Freedom. Equality. Dignity. Family. Courage,’ Mr. Biden said during remarks to Parliament.”
Related reads: “At Irish shrine, Biden meets priest who gave Beau last rites,” by AP’s Darlene Superville, Colleen Long and Jill Lawless in Knock, Ireland … “As Joe Biden roams Ireland, Hunter stays by his side,” West Wing Playbook
EYES ON 2024 — Biden, of course, largely brushed off political matters while overseas. But as he left, he told reporters a reelection announcement would come “relatively soon” and said that the trip “just reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done.”
A sense of optimism, in fact, will be essential as Biden’s team preps to enter the race. Our Steve Shepard writes this morning about Biden’s precarious state in the polls, with numbers “right around the mark where some of his predecessors who were denied second terms sat at this point of their presidencies.” He’s not only “struggling with independents” but also “soft among Democrats and left-leaning demographic groups, a weakness that suggests a diminished enthusiasm for his candidacy.”
On the flip side, however, GOP frontrunner DONALD TRUMP maintains worse favorability ratings than Biden, and in a general election, there’s plenty of evidence any wavering Democrats will come home to Biden in a matchup with Trump or Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS.
New quarterly fundraising numbers, meanwhile, show the Republican faithful continuing to ignore the electability concerns and close ranks around Trump. Alex Isenstadt scoops this morning that Trump’s Manhattan indictment turbocharged his Q1 fundraising, which totaled $18.8 million between his campaign and his joint fundraising committee.
“The figures provide a snapshot of how Trump’s arrest has, at least for the time being, shaped the Republican primary,” Alex writes. “While the former president’s indictment — along with potential future charges in several ongoing investigations — puts him in serious legal jeopardy, it has helped to solidify his standing with his supporters and grow his campaign war chest.”
Related reads: “Trump reports little income from Truth Social, $1M from NFTs,” by AP’s Michelle Price … “Donald Trump Quit SAG-AFTRA Two Years Ago — But Still Collects 6-Figure Pension,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin