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.
Trump-linked super PAC pulls funding from 2 House Republicans as GOP fights to keep majority
Isaias aftermath brings arrests after suspects allegedly trick woman into letting them in car, store looted
911 operators questioned whether Christa Pike failed execution call was prank, audio reveals
Trump asks Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as Greece ambassador, White House confirms
Alleged Philadelphia Cop Killer Admits He Targeted White Officers – Would Not Have Shot Black Cops
Trump rally crowd chants ‘deport’ as president rips Ilhan Omar after federal raid
Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election
AI Is Replacing Doctors Already: Utah Just Let an AI Write a Medical Prescription for the First Time
Biden Admin Used Threats to Silence Parents from Speaking Out Against Woke Policies, Teaching: DOJ Report
Ilhan Omar immigration history: Scrutiny surrounds family’s refugee claims
Republicans eye Wes Moore’s redistricting measure to boost GOP in blue Maryland
Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation
Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump
Rob Sand seeks red-state blueprint for Democrats in Iowa
US military archbishop urges Catholic soldiers to refuse involvement in Army firing squad execution
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:
Trump-linked super PAC pulls funding from 2 House Republicans as GOP fights to keep majority
Isaias aftermath brings arrests after suspects allegedly trick woman into letting them in car, store looted
911 operators questioned whether Christa Pike failed execution call was prank, audio reveals
Trump asks Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as Greece ambassador, White House confirms
Alleged Philadelphia Cop Killer Admits He Targeted White Officers – Would Not Have Shot Black Cops
Trump rally crowd chants ‘deport’ as president rips Ilhan Omar after federal raid
Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election
AI Is Replacing Doctors Already: Utah Just Let an AI Write a Medical Prescription for the First Time
Biden Admin Used Threats to Silence Parents from Speaking Out Against Woke Policies, Teaching: DOJ Report
Ilhan Omar immigration history: Scrutiny surrounds family’s refugee claims
Republicans eye Wes Moore’s redistricting measure to boost GOP in blue Maryland
Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation
Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump
Rob Sand seeks red-state blueprint for Democrats in Iowa
US military archbishop urges Catholic soldiers to refuse involvement in Army firing squad execution
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
Trump-linked super PAC pulls funding from 2 House Republicans as GOP fights to keep majority
Isaias aftermath brings arrests after suspects allegedly trick woman into letting them in car, store looted
911 operators questioned whether Christa Pike failed execution call was prank, audio reveals
Trump asks Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as Greece ambassador, White House confirms
Alleged Philadelphia Cop Killer Admits He Targeted White Officers – Would Not Have Shot Black Cops
Trump rally crowd chants ‘deport’ as president rips Ilhan Omar after federal raid
Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election
AI Is Replacing Doctors Already: Utah Just Let an AI Write a Medical Prescription for the First Time
Biden Admin Used Threats to Silence Parents from Speaking Out Against Woke Policies, Teaching: DOJ Report
Ilhan Omar immigration history: Scrutiny surrounds family’s refugee claims
Republicans eye Wes Moore’s redistricting measure to boost GOP in blue Maryland
Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation
Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump
Rob Sand seeks red-state blueprint for Democrats in Iowa
US military archbishop urges Catholic soldiers to refuse involvement in Army firing squad execution
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.
