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.
Why George W Bush handed Altoids to Michelle Obama at her husband’s presidential center opening
Obama knocks Founders at presidential center debut before America’s 250th: ‘Fell terribly short’
‘American flag blue’ coating apparently peeling off in Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
Planned Parenthood offered hormones but had no answers when detransitioner sought help, undercover probe finds
Trump Sends Forceful Message to ‘Jealous, Bad People’ Questioning His Iran Deal
Pete Hegseth Shames NATO Leaders to Their Faces, Demands They Take ‘Responsibility for the Defense of Europe’
Trump Iran framework gambles on diplomacy despite warning Tehran will ‘lie and cheat’
Dem Senate hopeful under fire for resurfaced comments calling cops ‘opportunistic cowards’
11 suspected illegal immigrants among 15 arrested in $1.4M benefits fraud crackdown in Massachusetts, DOJ says
JD Vance says he and Joy Behar are ‘best friends now’
Luigi Mangione’s emotional disturbance defense may have huge impact in his other case: lawyer
Illegal immigrants among 15 charged in $1.4 million Massachusetts benefits fraud crackdown
Here It Is: The Full Text of the US-Iran Agreement Trump Signed at Versailles
Soros Puppet, Philly DA Caught Doing Shocking Favors for Murderers – So Inappropriate That PA Supreme Court Is Intervening
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
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:
Why George W Bush handed Altoids to Michelle Obama at her husband’s presidential center opening
Obama knocks Founders at presidential center debut before America’s 250th: ‘Fell terribly short’
‘American flag blue’ coating apparently peeling off in Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
Planned Parenthood offered hormones but had no answers when detransitioner sought help, undercover probe finds
Trump Sends Forceful Message to ‘Jealous, Bad People’ Questioning His Iran Deal
Pete Hegseth Shames NATO Leaders to Their Faces, Demands They Take ‘Responsibility for the Defense of Europe’
Trump Iran framework gambles on diplomacy despite warning Tehran will ‘lie and cheat’
Dem Senate hopeful under fire for resurfaced comments calling cops ‘opportunistic cowards’
11 suspected illegal immigrants among 15 arrested in $1.4M benefits fraud crackdown in Massachusetts, DOJ says
JD Vance says he and Joy Behar are ‘best friends now’
Luigi Mangione’s emotional disturbance defense may have huge impact in his other case: lawyer
Illegal immigrants among 15 charged in $1.4 million Massachusetts benefits fraud crackdown
Here It Is: The Full Text of the US-Iran Agreement Trump Signed at Versailles
Soros Puppet, Philly DA Caught Doing Shocking Favors for Murderers – So Inappropriate That PA Supreme Court Is Intervening
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
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
Why George W Bush handed Altoids to Michelle Obama at her husband’s presidential center opening
Obama knocks Founders at presidential center debut before America’s 250th: ‘Fell terribly short’
‘American flag blue’ coating apparently peeling off in Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
Planned Parenthood offered hormones but had no answers when detransitioner sought help, undercover probe finds
Trump Sends Forceful Message to ‘Jealous, Bad People’ Questioning His Iran Deal
Pete Hegseth Shames NATO Leaders to Their Faces, Demands They Take ‘Responsibility for the Defense of Europe’
Trump Iran framework gambles on diplomacy despite warning Tehran will ‘lie and cheat’
Dem Senate hopeful under fire for resurfaced comments calling cops ‘opportunistic cowards’
11 suspected illegal immigrants among 15 arrested in $1.4M benefits fraud crackdown in Massachusetts, DOJ says
JD Vance says he and Joy Behar are ‘best friends now’
Luigi Mangione’s emotional disturbance defense may have huge impact in his other case: lawyer
Illegal immigrants among 15 charged in $1.4 million Massachusetts benefits fraud crackdown
Here It Is: The Full Text of the US-Iran Agreement Trump Signed at Versailles
Soros Puppet, Philly DA Caught Doing Shocking Favors for Murderers – So Inappropriate That PA Supreme Court Is Intervening
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
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.
