Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden’s first virtual town hall on Friday was denounced as “an absolute technical nightmare.”
Biden had been scheduled to hold a traditional campaign event in Illinois on Friday.
However, in light of restrictions on gatherings that are being put in place in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the campaign decided to make the event a virtual town hall.
As CNN reported, the event was pushed back by two hours from its original start time, and then still started 15 minutes late.
Makena Kelly, who dissected the event for The Verge, explained what greeted her when she clicked in.
“When I logged onto Joe Biden’s first-ever virtual town hall, I was greeted with one Illinois senator adjusting the angle of her webcam and another showing off an adorable (but screaming) baby in an oddly intimate video call before the former vice president even appeared onscreen,” she wrote in her piece, which was titled simply, “Joe Biden’s first virtual town hall was an absolute technical nightmare.”
“What was at first an awkwardly silent video conference evolved into a complete technical nightmare that resulted in Biden sounding as if he was screaming in TV static for the first few minutes of the event,” she wrote.
Burglary theory in missing Guthrie case ‘ridiculously rare’ says law enforcement source
New Mexico mother accused of drowning newborn in portable toilet after giving birth
Department of War transports next-generation reactor in nuclear energy milestone
Schumer says Dems will fight voter ID push ‘tooth and nail,’ balks at DHS role in elections
Hillary Clinton clashes with Czech leader over Trump policies at Munich security conference
Woman allegedly steals bus from elementary school parking lot, goes on late night ride
The one sentence in Rubio’s Munich speech that revealed Trump’s red line for Europe
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Antifa-linked group tells students to mobilize, college students fake disabilities
SpaceX Launches New Crew to Space Station After Medical Evacuation
Media Whines About Irish Man Held by ICE, But Here’s Why He’s Really in Trouble
California Exodus Takes a Huge Leap Forward as Citizens Flock to Las Vegas to Avoid New Tax Hike
NBC Issues Apology for Calling Female Olympic Skier ‘She’
Newsom Gives $90 Million in ‘Emergency’ Funds to Planned Parenthood
US Kill Total on Drug Boats Hits 133 as Strike Takes Out 3 More ‘Narco-Terrorists’ in Caribbean
Trump announces $5 billion pledge in Gaza aid from Board of Peace members
Those attending the event pointed out the problems.
In fact, the first question was actually a critique from a viewer who noted, “Mr. Biden’s speech was garbly the entire time.”
Biden also seemed flummoxed by the technology.
“Am I live?” he said when the third questioner of the evening was speaking.
“Am I on camera?” he said as the fourth person asked a question.
Near the end of the town hall event, Biden wandered off screen.
At one point, only the back half of his head was visible.
While he soon came back, the campaign eventually decided that was enough. The video stream was cut, and the rest of the event was audio only:
Burglary theory in missing Guthrie case ‘ridiculously rare’ says law enforcement source
New Mexico mother accused of drowning newborn in portable toilet after giving birth
Department of War transports next-generation reactor in nuclear energy milestone
Schumer says Dems will fight voter ID push ‘tooth and nail,’ balks at DHS role in elections
Hillary Clinton clashes with Czech leader over Trump policies at Munich security conference
Woman allegedly steals bus from elementary school parking lot, goes on late night ride
The one sentence in Rubio’s Munich speech that revealed Trump’s red line for Europe
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Antifa-linked group tells students to mobilize, college students fake disabilities
SpaceX Launches New Crew to Space Station After Medical Evacuation
Media Whines About Irish Man Held by ICE, But Here’s Why He’s Really in Trouble
California Exodus Takes a Huge Leap Forward as Citizens Flock to Las Vegas to Avoid New Tax Hike
NBC Issues Apology for Calling Female Olympic Skier ‘She’
Newsom Gives $90 Million in ‘Emergency’ Funds to Planned Parenthood
US Kill Total on Drug Boats Hits 133 as Strike Takes Out 3 More ‘Narco-Terrorists’ in Caribbean
Trump announces $5 billion pledge in Gaza aid from Board of Peace members
Before Biden signed off, he made a comment that summed up the evening, according to Breitbart.
“I’m sorry this is such a disjointed effort here,” Biden said.
Twitter was not kind to the event:
What’s he talking about? Wow.
— Scott Sheridan (@SSheridan74) March 14, 2020
This is part of the virtual town hall the Biden campaign wouldn't post
Garbled/cut out audio, blank screens, randomly going live to unsuspecting participants
A complete disaster pic.twitter.com/eLGgHyPm91
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) March 14, 2020
Burglary theory in missing Guthrie case ‘ridiculously rare’ says law enforcement source
New Mexico mother accused of drowning newborn in portable toilet after giving birth
Department of War transports next-generation reactor in nuclear energy milestone
Schumer says Dems will fight voter ID push ‘tooth and nail,’ balks at DHS role in elections
Hillary Clinton clashes with Czech leader over Trump policies at Munich security conference
Woman allegedly steals bus from elementary school parking lot, goes on late night ride
The one sentence in Rubio’s Munich speech that revealed Trump’s red line for Europe
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Antifa-linked group tells students to mobilize, college students fake disabilities
SpaceX Launches New Crew to Space Station After Medical Evacuation
Media Whines About Irish Man Held by ICE, But Here’s Why He’s Really in Trouble
California Exodus Takes a Huge Leap Forward as Citizens Flock to Las Vegas to Avoid New Tax Hike
NBC Issues Apology for Calling Female Olympic Skier ‘She’
Newsom Gives $90 Million in ‘Emergency’ Funds to Planned Parenthood
US Kill Total on Drug Boats Hits 133 as Strike Takes Out 3 More ‘Narco-Terrorists’ in Caribbean
Trump announces $5 billion pledge in Gaza aid from Board of Peace members
Joe Biden is the worst presidential candidate of all-time.pic.twitter.com/rEVyjBy7hu
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) March 14, 2020
“Biden’s first-ever virtual town hall was a sorry first sign for the future of digital campaigning, something that will become ever more important as the presidential race heats up and coronavirus spreads across the country,” Kelly wrote.
“Hopefully the Biden campaign and others can get it together before November, or at least until the pandemic fades.”
Story cited here.
