Why Biden and Harris are so busy on Wednesdays, when Trump isn’t in court

Last Wednesday, Harris flew to Jacksonville, Florida, to try to paint former President Donald Trump as the face of Florida’s newly enforced six-week abortion ban. On other recent Wednesdays, Biden signed legislation for a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan; accepted a key labor endorsement; and traveled to Pittsburgh to call for new tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China. What’s so special about Wednesdays?

In part, the flurry of midweek Biden-Harris activity and travel has to do with the fact that Trump’s trial in Manhattan takes a break on Wednesdays, leaving the former president with only that day and weekends to campaign.

So by holding events and putting Biden and Harris in the public eye on Wednesdays, the White House and the Biden campaign choke off one of the few days when Trump could drive news media coverage on his own. That leaves the focus on his trial or creates a split-screen day between the two presidential rivals — a valuable contrast as voters in battleground states size up their options, Biden aides believe.

The Biden campaign sought to begin this Wednesday’s news cycle by announcing $14 million in new advertising across the battleground states. On a call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, offered few details about the spending beyond that it would appear on television and digital platforms with a focus on live sports — he noted that an abortion-focused ad had run during Saturday’s broadcast of the Kentucky Derby. Biden also plans to sit for an interview with CNN that is scheduled to run Wednesday evening.

Trump’s campaign has done next to no advertising on television since he clinched the Republican nomination, and it has a scant presence on digital advertising, according to firms that track political spending.

“The Trump team and outside groups is hoping for the best while they spend their free time on the golf course or elsewhere,” Tyler said.

Trump has maintained a relatively light campaign schedule since his criminal trial in New York began on April 15. He scheduled a rally in North Carolina for April 20 but canceled it, citing bad weather. On Wednesday he will be at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence and club, but with no campaign events planned.

“Crooked Joe spends his days shuffling his feet like a short-circuited Roomba,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesperson. “The fact is that he’ll have to take responsibility for the out-of-control border, runaway inflation and surging crime rates that have decimated every American.”

Last Wednesday, Trump held campaign rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan. On that trip, he reiterated that he had wanted to go to the Capitol during the attack by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, and said he might not accept the results of the election if he lost.