Here's How Trump's Campaign Good Deed For Biden Only Benefitted Himself

Donald Trump vetoed a series of campaign ads targeting President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after he found them “so far-fetched.”

Trump’s campaign team initially planned on releasing a series of attack ads during the 2020 presidential race, including one that called out Biden’s behavior toward women.

Biden had previously been criticized for touching and hugging women inappropriately. He also was accused of sexually assaulting former aide Tara Reade, but he forcefully denied the allegations.

Several television and digital ads obtained by Axios include one where Biden was portrayed as a predator.

“I know a predator when I see one,” the vetoed campaign ad said.

The “Predator” ad included quotes from Reade. It also included a statement from Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state politician that accused Biden of being inappropriate after he placed his hands on her shoulders, smelled her hair, and kissed her head. However, it was discarded after it made Trump wary.

“He never wanted to run the predator or women's-style ads against Biden, because he was afraid he was going to open up his own can of worms,” a source familiar with the conversations told Axios.

Before his 2016 bid, Trump had publicly boasted that he could “grab women by the pussy.” He also has been accused of sexual harassment by more than 25 women, some of which landed him in court.

In 2019, unsealed documents showed that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, broke campaign finance law to make hush-money payments to women accusing Trump of sexual harassment, including $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who once claimed to have an affair with Trump.

Other ads produced by Trump's campaign team targeted Biden’s health, showing him coughing repeatedly at his podium. Another ad took aim at CNN anchor Don Lemon, showing him transforming into a clown as he reports about the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. The ad shows the face of Lemon, who is African American, becoming whiter gradually.

While watching the attack ad on Lemon from the White House, Trump called it “brutal” and vetoed the video.

“God, that's brutal, but I don't know if we can put it up,” he said.