Scorched-earth summer: Biden, Sunak and Macron go negative

Even at a glittering Hollywood fundraiser, President Joe Biden’s message was dark.

Biden spoke from the stage last weekend about the possibility of former President Donald Trump making additional Supreme Court appointments as “one of the scariest parts” of the Republican’s potential return to office. First Lady Jill Biden went further, warning that Trump wants “absolute power” and aims to “destroy the democratic safeguards that stand in his way.”

Those comments mirrored the increasingly ominous tone of Biden’s latest campaign ads, which invoke the Jan. 6 riot, warn “Trump’s ready to burn it all down” and label him as “a convicted criminal.”

Biden’s team is on the attack. And they’re not alone.

Embattled leaders on both sides of the Atlantic are resorting to slashing attacks against their opponents, telling voters in dystopian terms about how bad things could get if their challengers win. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has warned that far-right and far-left candidates would inflict “an impoverishment of the country.” Across the channel in Britain, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has mounted a nearly all-negative campaign against the ascendant Labour Party.