They would have called him a lot more than that.

Obama on Trump: “He’s got a secret Chinese bank account. How’s that possible? Listen, can you imagine if had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for reelection? You think Fox News might’ve been a little concerned? They would’ve called me Beijing Barry.” pic.twitter.com/yDzGr4cS5x

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 21, 2020

He’s referring to the story the NYT ran last night, the latest in its series scrutinizing Trump’s mysteriously obtained alleged tax returns.

And it turns out that China is one of only three foreign nations — the others are Britain and Ireland — where Mr. Trump maintains a bank account, according to an analysis of the president’s tax records, which were obtained by The New York Times. The foreign accounts do not show up on Mr. Trump’s public financial disclosures, where he must list personal assets, because they are held under corporate names. The identities of the financial institutions are not clear.

The Chinese account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management L.L.C., which the tax records show paid $188,561 in taxes in China while pursuing licensing deals there from 2013 to 2015.

What odds can I get in Vegas that Biden attacks Trump tomorrow night at the debate by pointing out that he paid 250 times more in taxes to China over that span than he did to the U.S. government, at least in some years?

Lefties are thrilled to see Obama back on the trail today but there’s a reason why Biden’s kept him under wraps. In midterm elections he’s been a better turnout machine for the right than he has for the left. Team Joe is taking a risk rolling him out there now, at the eleventh hour, knowing that Republicans will see these clips and bristle at him mocking Trump. All things being equal, I think Biden would have preferred to keep him on ice.

But all things aren’t equal. Biden’s having trouble with black voters, especially younger black voters and black men.

While older Black voters look as if they’ll vote for Biden by margins similar to Clinton’s in 2016, Trump’s support among young Black voters (18 to 44) has jumped from around 10 percent in 2016 to 21 percent in UCLA Nationscape’s polling. Black voters remain an overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning constituency, but a notable reduction in their support could still be a problem for Biden.

Notably, young Black voters don’t seem to feel as negatively about Trump as older Black Americans do. For instance, an early-July African American Research Collaborative poll of battleground states found that 35 percent of 18-to-29-year-old Black adults agreed that although they didn’t always like Trump’s policies, they liked his strong demeanor and defiance of the establishment. Conversely, just 10 percent of those 60 and older said the same…

One last point on where Trump has made gains among Black and Hispanic voters: He has done particularly well with Black and Hispanic men, which might speak to how his campaign has actively courted them. For instance, the Republican National Convention featured a number of Black men as speakers this year. And Politico talked with more than 20 Democratic strategists, lawmakers, pollsters and activists who explained that many Black and Latino men are open to supporting Trump as they think the Democratic Party has taken them for granted.

Trump’s relative strength with black men was important in the 2016 election. Black women supported Hillary Clinton at an amazing 98 percent clip, The Atlantic noted this week, but black men split 81/14 nationally for her. Given how tight Michigan and Pennsylvania were four years ago and the large African-American populations in both states, that mattered to Trump. The same Atlantic piece claims that a recent survey conducted by the Biden campaign found 17 percent of black men intend to vote Trump this time. If we get another nailbiter in PA, that may be all Trump needs.

Obama’s job, clearly, is to try to bring those voters back into the fold — especially in Pennsylvania. His “drive-in” rally today was held in Philadelphia.

That’s one upside to Team Biden for having him on the trail, that he might persuade some wavering black voters to stick with Sleepy Joe which could be decisive in a tight race. But I’d guess they also see an upside in having Obama out there as “Trump bait,” knowing how he gets under the president’s skin and how tempted Trump will be to swing back at him. Obama’s a more popular figure than Trump is across the population, and the spectacle of POTUS brawling with the first black president might aid the effort to get black voters, particularly younger ones, to stay blue this year.

I’ll leave you with two more short clips. The first one will infuriate Trump. The second one is the one that’s likely to be replayed most often on CNN and MSNBC tomorrow.

Obama: He did inherit the longest streak of job growth in American history but just like everything else he inherited, he messed it up pic.twitter.com/MOd2yfB7KZ

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 21, 2020

Fmr. President Obama criticized President Trump for going "out of his way to insult anybody who doesn't support him or threaten them with jail. That's not normal presidential behavior."

He adds that Trump's actions “embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist" pic.twitter.com/VdLskMH544

— CNN (@CNN) October 21, 2020