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.
El-Sayed booked for major Islamic convention alongside clerics with radical pasts
Progressives notch victory in race to replace Swalwell following sexual assault scandal
Derek Chauvin’s Attorney Makes ‘Bombshell’ Motion to Dismiss, Alleging ‘Fraudulent’ Conduct by Tim Walz and Keith Ellison
Democrats who ‘never voted Republican’ back Rogers over El-Sayed in razor-close race
Angel Dad takes major new role after daughter’s killing sparks sweeping illegal alien crackdown
Police identify suspect accused of terrorizing Philadelphia women while wearing creepy Chucky-style mask
NBA Vet Hoping to Join WNBA as First ‘Trans’ Player Says He’s Coming for Caitlin Clark’s Biggest Hater, Angel Reese
Philadelphia woman says she used stage combat training to fight off masked man chasing residents
Oil flows and Iranian economic woes give White House much-needed PR reprieve around war
Bass and Raman clash over homelessness, public safety, and Hollywood in heated Los Angeles mayoral debate
Key Democratic Senate Candidate’s Campaign Descends Into ‘Complete Chaos’
FBI raids Eric Swalwell’s property, seizes devices at airport in sexual misconduct investigation
Sherrill escalates Trump fight over voter fiasco day after Mullin praises NJ cooperation
ActBlue co-founder pleads Fifth Amendment in closed-door House GOP grilling
Ocasio-Cortez endorses Massachusetts Senate incumbent Ed Markey
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:
El-Sayed booked for major Islamic convention alongside clerics with radical pasts
Progressives notch victory in race to replace Swalwell following sexual assault scandal
Derek Chauvin’s Attorney Makes ‘Bombshell’ Motion to Dismiss, Alleging ‘Fraudulent’ Conduct by Tim Walz and Keith Ellison
Democrats who ‘never voted Republican’ back Rogers over El-Sayed in razor-close race
Angel Dad takes major new role after daughter’s killing sparks sweeping illegal alien crackdown
Police identify suspect accused of terrorizing Philadelphia women while wearing creepy Chucky-style mask
NBA Vet Hoping to Join WNBA as First ‘Trans’ Player Says He’s Coming for Caitlin Clark’s Biggest Hater, Angel Reese
Philadelphia woman says she used stage combat training to fight off masked man chasing residents
Oil flows and Iranian economic woes give White House much-needed PR reprieve around war
Bass and Raman clash over homelessness, public safety, and Hollywood in heated Los Angeles mayoral debate
Key Democratic Senate Candidate’s Campaign Descends Into ‘Complete Chaos’
FBI raids Eric Swalwell’s property, seizes devices at airport in sexual misconduct investigation
Sherrill escalates Trump fight over voter fiasco day after Mullin praises NJ cooperation
ActBlue co-founder pleads Fifth Amendment in closed-door House GOP grilling
Ocasio-Cortez endorses Massachusetts Senate incumbent Ed Markey
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
El-Sayed booked for major Islamic convention alongside clerics with radical pasts
Progressives notch victory in race to replace Swalwell following sexual assault scandal
Derek Chauvin’s Attorney Makes ‘Bombshell’ Motion to Dismiss, Alleging ‘Fraudulent’ Conduct by Tim Walz and Keith Ellison
Democrats who ‘never voted Republican’ back Rogers over El-Sayed in razor-close race
Angel Dad takes major new role after daughter’s killing sparks sweeping illegal alien crackdown
Police identify suspect accused of terrorizing Philadelphia women while wearing creepy Chucky-style mask
NBA Vet Hoping to Join WNBA as First ‘Trans’ Player Says He’s Coming for Caitlin Clark’s Biggest Hater, Angel Reese
Philadelphia woman says she used stage combat training to fight off masked man chasing residents
Oil flows and Iranian economic woes give White House much-needed PR reprieve around war
Bass and Raman clash over homelessness, public safety, and Hollywood in heated Los Angeles mayoral debate
Key Democratic Senate Candidate’s Campaign Descends Into ‘Complete Chaos’
FBI raids Eric Swalwell’s property, seizes devices at airport in sexual misconduct investigation
Sherrill escalates Trump fight over voter fiasco day after Mullin praises NJ cooperation
ActBlue co-founder pleads Fifth Amendment in closed-door House GOP grilling
Ocasio-Cortez endorses Massachusetts Senate incumbent Ed Markey
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.
