Presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held two virtual Florida campaign events earlier this evening and at least one of them did not go well at all.
The first one, according to the Tampa Bay Times, was a discussion with Jacksonville-based African-American leaders. Per the TBT, it wasn’t broadcast so it’s unclear what if any glitches occurred in that one.
But the other one, the virtual Tampa rally, started off badly and it only got worse from there:
Speakers, including U.S. Reps. Charlie Crist, Kathy Castor, and State Sen. Janet Cruz, appeared pixelated. Their feeds were visibly delayed as if they were transmitting from Afghanistan, not Tampa Bay.
At one point, the stream cut to black with no audio for several minutes.
Finally, 40 minutes into the rally, Biden was introduced. And what an entrance.
A full-seven seconds after his introduction, Biden appeared, not moving. As he leaned against a wall, Biden sported his trademark aviators.
The video uploaded to YouTube of his intro is bizarre. Biden was leaning against a door frame, looking like an older, parody version of Don Johnson during the Miami Vice days. Honestly, he looked … like a hustler. Something from Glenn Frey should have been playing in the background.
Then in the next few seconds after he walked up and started talking, the video pixelation and the sound delay between hearing his voice and watching his mouth move reminded me of the old Max Headroom videos from the 1980s.
Seriously. Watch:
Compare and contrast:
https://twitter.com/CoachHodes/status/1258133398054453248
By the way, I’m not the only one who thinks this! Do a Twitter search using the words “Max Headroom.” A lot of people have noticed the similarity – even before today:
Ok, ok. Hear me out. Joe Biden making broadcasts, hidden away in his little room during the pandemic… He has become an aged Max Headroom. The US election will be contested between a reality TV star and a simulated character. pic.twitter.com/r6nYKMKy2b
— ᴘᴜᴅ333 (@pud333) May 5, 2020
Here’s how Vice described Biden’s appearance:
Joe Biden tried to host a 'virtual town hall' tonight and looked less like the 2020 Democratic frontrunner and more like a candidate for condo board president in Fort Lauderdale attempting Zoom for the first time. https://t.co/OvSaPMole7
— VICE News (@vicenews) May 7, 2020
Later on during the virtual rally, the video was still pixelating and the sound was still on a delay – and you could hear a bird chirping loudly in the background. It was a very surreal moment, and you couldn’t help but chuckle:
I know it’s not his fault there were serious technical problems, but I also know if the shoe was on the other foot the Biden campaign would take full advantage ripping Trump for it. Besides, with everything going on in the country, we could all use a few laughs.
Maybe Biden’s next campaign rally won’t be quite so glitchy. But in the event it is, we’ll be covering it. 😉
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