Why Biden and Harris Are So Busy on Wednesdays, When Trump Isn’t in Court

It’s Wednesday, so President Biden will be on the road.

Later today, Mr. Biden is set to travel to Wisconsin for a speech in Racine about his economic agenda. Vice President Kamala Harris is also on the move, heading to Philadelphia for planned remarks on abortion rights.

Last Wednesday, Ms. Harris flew to Jacksonville, Fla., to try to paint former President Donald J. Trump as the face of Florida’s newly enforced six-week abortion ban. On other recent Wednesdays, Mr. Biden signed legislation for a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan; accepted a key labor endorsement; and traveled to Pittsburgh to call for new tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China.

What’s so special about Wednesdays? In part, the flurry of midweek Biden-Harris activity and travel has to do with the fact that Mr. Trump’s trial in Manhattan takes a break on Wednesdays, leaving the former president with only that day and weekends to campaign.

So by holding events and putting Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris in the public eye on Wednesdays, the White House and the Biden campaign choke off one of the few days when Mr. Trump could drive news media coverage on his own. That leaves the focus on his trial or creates a split-screen day between the two presidential rivals — a valuable contrast as voters in battleground states size up their options, Biden aides believe.

The Biden campaign sought to begin this Wednesday’s news cycle by announcing $14 million in new advertising across the battleground states. On a call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, offered few details about the spending beyond that it would appear on television and digital platforms with a focus on live sports — he noted that an abortion-focused ad had run during Saturday’s broadcast of the Kentucky Derby. Mr. Biden also plans to sit for an interview with CNN that is scheduled to run Wednesday evening.

Mr. Trump’s campaign has done next to no advertising on television since he clinched the Republican nomination, and it has a scant presence on digital advertising, according to firms that track political spending.