George Conway’s advice for Biden’s State of the Union: ‘He just has to be normal’

Conservative legal commentator George Conway suggested President Biden “just has to be normal,” and authentic in his State of the Union address Thursday if he wants to consolidate his base.

Asked how Biden can make a “positive case” to voters for the next four years, Conway told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the president has “to be empathetic, he’s got to be himself.”

“I think at the end of the day, he doesn’t have to do a hard sell,” he added. “He does have to get out there; he just has to be normal.”

Conway, a staunch critic of former President Trump, argued he and Biden both won their respective presidencies because of problems with their opposing candidate.

“Trump won in 2016 because Hillary [Clinton] was the issue. Trump lost in 2020 because Trump was the issue,” the lawyer, who is currently in the process of divorcing former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, told the panel. “And in 2024, Trump will lose again because he will be the issue. He will make himself the issue; he cannot help but make himself the issue.”

“What Biden needs to do is just basics. Basically say, ‘That guy is crazy,’” Conway continued. “He doesn’t have to refer to him by name, he just has to say, ‘That guy’s nuts. Let’s be normal, America.’ That’s the theme of this campaign.” 

Biden is set to deliver his annual State of the Union address at the Capitol on Thursday night — just two days after he and Trump dominated their respective Super Tuesday primaries. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s only remaining GOP challenger, suspended her campaign Wednesday, making a 2020 rematch between the incumbent and former president all the more likely in November. 

Biden has faced low approval ratings in recent months, and polls show he is slightly behind Trump on a national scale, according to polling indexes from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ. 

His State of the Union address is widely seen as a chance for the president to sell voters on accomplishments from his first term and convince them he is best equipped for another four years in the White House, despite rising concerns about his age and mental acuity.

“The president has always been an optimistic person, as you know, and even in the face of challenges in front of us, he will share why he’s hopeful about this country’s future and why it is a mistake to bet against the American people,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week.