Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Joe Biden is simply not good at this and, to the extent that he ever was, that former glory is certainly gone.
Today, he sat for an interview from his now familiar home office (it’s clear he’s not leaving the house at this point) with PBS News Hour. While the situation was largely friendly to Biden, he managed to talk his way into yet another gaffe, this time ending up with an on-air fact-check.
BIDEN: "The president's numbers with the public have gone up in handling this crisis, but they haven't gone up in terms of his presidency."
*awkward silence*
REPORTER: Actually, his job approval is also up.
BIDEN: "Well, I hope that he's so strong that he's up way above that." pic.twitter.com/VfWksMSpJi
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) March 25, 2020
On the facts, Biden was simply wrong. Trump’s approval is now at the highest point of his presidency, not just in individual polls like Gallup, but also the Real Clear Politics average. The more attention one pays to Washington, the more likely that is to be shocking, as there’s certainly a bubble effect when it comes to ascertaining what does and doesn’t hurt the President.
Overall, Trump’s response to the Wuhan virus has helped him greatly, both because he’s done a decent job and because people see that he can manage a crisis. No amount of wish-casting or beltway teeth-gnashing is going to change that.
Biden wasn’t done, though. He then went on to make this ridiculous claim during his “virtual” briefing, which lasted all of ten minutes and four questions.
Joe Biden says "when I left the United States Senate, I became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania."
a) He never taught a class
b) He was given the honorary professorship after he left the White House, not the Senate.pic.twitter.com/T5MyTj00rV— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 25, 2020
Had Trump made a claim like that, the media would have raked him over the coals. But this is just another day on the campaign trail (or whatever this currently is) for Joe Biden. He’s not up for this job and it’s obvious. The fact that he couldn’t even manage more than four questions in his “presser” today is more than enough evidence of that. Democrats need to figure out a way to pull the plug on this sooner rather than later.
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