Donald Trump’s vicious portrayal of Joe Biden as the ultimate Washington insider may have come too late

The president found a clear narrative with which to hammer his opponent

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Mr Biden was the “radical socialist” puppet, but then his entire political record has been one of a consensus builder and he ran to defeat democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.

The Washington tag is much harder for Mr Biden to throw off. He is a Washington insider. He was first elected to the US Senate in his twenties and spent 36 years there.

But it feels like for that attack to truly hammer home it should have been adopted much, much earlier and much, much louder by the Trump campaign.

Instead there has been a muddle of contradictory critiques. If Mr Biden is “all talk and no action” then how will he deliver the socialist overhaul Mr Trump has been warning about?

The president latched onto a narrative that could do his rival real damage. 

But there are just 11 days left until election day. That is late in the day indeed. 

Sign up for our US election WhatsApp group for exclusive updates and behind-the-scenes access to the 2020 campaign trail