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.
NYC woman critically injured after being stabbed multiple times while jogging along Brooklyn waterfront
Democrats’ self-inflicted wounds threaten high-stakes Michigan Senate race
Tough Time Finding an Affordable Car? Thank Obama’s Destruction of 680k Working Vehicles in 2009
Texas Claims 9 Rio Grande Islands in Power Move to Deny Cartels Safe Havens
College Hockey Star, Aspiring NYPD Cop Killed in Wrong-Way Crash: It Was a Twice-Deported Illegal Behind the Wheel
Tensions Heat Up in Taiwan Straight as China Shadows US Warship, Separate Maritime Standoff Erupts Near Taiwan
How House Democrats’ ‘deterrence message’ on Trump jobs could backfire
Outrage Erupts Over Minnesota Election Official’s Message on ‘Somali TV’: Doesn’t This Mean Illegals Can Easily Vote?
Pollster Who Predicted Clinton Landslide Against Trump Says GOP Can Still Win Midterms: ‘Lot of Winning Combinations’
Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority
Trump prosecutions under Biden set precedent for DOJ’s Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ probe, ex-FEC chair says
Musk Gets the Last Word on X After the Hit-Piece Documentary Attacking Him Goes Down in Flames as ‘Unmitigated Flop’
Biden Propaganda Exposed?: Arrested ‘Shadow Gov’t’ Ex-FBI Official May Have Helped NBC Bury the Hunter Biden Laptop Story
Surface-to-Air Missile System Deployed at Mar-a-Lago: ‘Heightened Threat Environment’
Major US children’s hospital opens historic detransition clinic after $10M legal showdown
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:
NYC woman critically injured after being stabbed multiple times while jogging along Brooklyn waterfront
Democrats’ self-inflicted wounds threaten high-stakes Michigan Senate race
Tough Time Finding an Affordable Car? Thank Obama’s Destruction of 680k Working Vehicles in 2009
Texas Claims 9 Rio Grande Islands in Power Move to Deny Cartels Safe Havens
College Hockey Star, Aspiring NYPD Cop Killed in Wrong-Way Crash: It Was a Twice-Deported Illegal Behind the Wheel
Tensions Heat Up in Taiwan Straight as China Shadows US Warship, Separate Maritime Standoff Erupts Near Taiwan
How House Democrats’ ‘deterrence message’ on Trump jobs could backfire
Outrage Erupts Over Minnesota Election Official’s Message on ‘Somali TV’: Doesn’t This Mean Illegals Can Easily Vote?
Pollster Who Predicted Clinton Landslide Against Trump Says GOP Can Still Win Midterms: ‘Lot of Winning Combinations’
Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority
Trump prosecutions under Biden set precedent for DOJ’s Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ probe, ex-FEC chair says
Musk Gets the Last Word on X After the Hit-Piece Documentary Attacking Him Goes Down in Flames as ‘Unmitigated Flop’
Biden Propaganda Exposed?: Arrested ‘Shadow Gov’t’ Ex-FBI Official May Have Helped NBC Bury the Hunter Biden Laptop Story
Surface-to-Air Missile System Deployed at Mar-a-Lago: ‘Heightened Threat Environment’
Major US children’s hospital opens historic detransition clinic after $10M legal showdown
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
NYC woman critically injured after being stabbed multiple times while jogging along Brooklyn waterfront
Democrats’ self-inflicted wounds threaten high-stakes Michigan Senate race
Tough Time Finding an Affordable Car? Thank Obama’s Destruction of 680k Working Vehicles in 2009
Texas Claims 9 Rio Grande Islands in Power Move to Deny Cartels Safe Havens
College Hockey Star, Aspiring NYPD Cop Killed in Wrong-Way Crash: It Was a Twice-Deported Illegal Behind the Wheel
Tensions Heat Up in Taiwan Straight as China Shadows US Warship, Separate Maritime Standoff Erupts Near Taiwan
How House Democrats’ ‘deterrence message’ on Trump jobs could backfire
Outrage Erupts Over Minnesota Election Official’s Message on ‘Somali TV’: Doesn’t This Mean Illegals Can Easily Vote?
Pollster Who Predicted Clinton Landslide Against Trump Says GOP Can Still Win Midterms: ‘Lot of Winning Combinations’
Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority
Trump prosecutions under Biden set precedent for DOJ’s Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ probe, ex-FEC chair says
Musk Gets the Last Word on X After the Hit-Piece Documentary Attacking Him Goes Down in Flames as ‘Unmitigated Flop’
Biden Propaganda Exposed?: Arrested ‘Shadow Gov’t’ Ex-FBI Official May Have Helped NBC Bury the Hunter Biden Laptop Story
Surface-to-Air Missile System Deployed at Mar-a-Lago: ‘Heightened Threat Environment’
Major US children’s hospital opens historic detransition clinic after $10M legal showdown
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.
