How the Biden Campaign Is Using Republicans' Own Words Against Them

The Biden-Harris reelection campaign has seized on Republican in-fighting, sharing a slew of moments in which lawmakers slam their own party — and back the administration's messaging

As the Republican-led House finds itself consumed with chaos and infighting amid the search to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is taking on a somewhat familiar strategy: using GOP lawmakers' and candidates' own words against them.

That means re-posting viral moments from Republican presidential debates, such as one in which former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said, "Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt and our kids are never going to forgive us for this."

"Couldn't agree more," @JoeBiden (the official X account used by Biden as a presidential candidate and civilian) wrote in re-posting the exchange.

Another moment shared by the Biden-Harris HQ's X account took place on Fox News, when host Laura Ingraham said, "The Republicans are so incapable of governing that they lost a speaker ... which hasn’t really happened before."

Related: Laura Ingraham Dismisses John Eastman’s 2020 Election Fraud Claims: ‘I Haven’t Seen That Evidence’

The Biden campaign has seized on the recent removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, sharing a slew of moments from Fox News in which Republicans slam their own party.

One video produced by the campaign aims to show a stark contrast between the two parties, with the caption, "Democrats spent today bringing down drug prices. Republicans spent today bringing down the Speaker that they themselves elected."

Related: Who Will Be the New House Speaker? Possible Candidates to Replace Kevin McCarthy

Rob Flaherty, deputy campaign manager for Biden's 2024 campaign and former director of digital strategy in Biden's White House, acknowledges that at least part of the media strategy is made easier by the fact that Republicans are doing much of the work for them.

"We do appreciate demonstrating to the American people that the Republican Party can't tie their own shoes," Flaherty tells PEOPLE. "At the end of the day, the best evidence for the Republican Party being unfit to govern is the Republican Party."

Flaherty says that the Biden campaign's social media "seeks to lift up" the moments of division and hypocrisy demonstrated by Republicans, adding, "We really do have an embarrassment of riches."

Related: 'Dark Brandon' Appears on Fox News' Homepage on Day of Republican Debates: 'I'm Bringing Roe Back'

Flaherty notes that the "sweet spot" for an effective campaign strategy is finding a moment that's both substantive, and demonstrates the weaknesses of the opposing view.

"There's a couple of elements: what performs well online and what actually changes minds," he says. "The sweet spot is when you can find something that does both things."

Those who are already Biden supporters, Flaherty says, "love seeing us fight back and that gets viral lift." But the campaign has also seen impact from promoting clips of Republicans essentially acknowledging their own messes.

It's a strategy President Biden's campaign has utilized before.

When some far-right members of the party began using the phrase, "Let's Go Brandon" as a code for "F--- Joe Biden," the campaign co-opted it, turning "Brandon" into the president's alter-ego — one who gets things done.

Related: Who Is Dark Brandon? Understanding Joe Biden's 'No Malarkey' Alter-Ego

The satirical alter-ego "Dark Brandon" has been fashioned onto Biden 2024 merchandise, and products featuring the design now account for 44% of the campaign store's orders and 54% of its revenue, according to a campaign official.

Dark Brandon also made bold appearance on the day of the first 2024 Republican debate — not only on billboards in Milwaukee, where eight GOP candidates took the stage, but in a digital ad on FoxNews.com.

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While Dark Brandon hasn't been the primary focus of the campaign's media strategy in recent days, he likely isn't going anywhere. "Dark Brandon is a key part of how we talk about the president's accomplishments," Flaherty says. "He's the patron saint of this new posture we're taking."

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