Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has faced less than half as many questions on the campaign trail compared to President Trump since Aug. 31.
“Biden has been the least-scrutinized presidential candidate in modern history at great disservice to the voters, but the press still has time to rectify that,” said Trump campaign spokesperson, Andrew Clark.
Biden has faced 365 questions from the press since the end of August, compared to 753 questions for Trump. The Trump campaign compiled the numbers, and Biden’s campaign did not dispute the tally.
Biden aides say the discrepancy in questions is because their candidate was already thoroughly examined during the primary process and during four decades in public service.
The tally comes as Biden continues to refuse to take a stance on whether or not he supports packing the Supreme Court with more justices. On multiple occasions in recent weeks, Biden has said the question is a distraction from his campaign.
“Whatever position I take on that, that will become the issue,” Biden told reporters in one instance.
When asked again whether he would answer the question, Biden responded, “No, I’m not going to answer that.”
Biden offered the first glimpse into his view on the issue Tuesday, though his answer left room to speculate on what he might do if he is elected.
“I’m not a fan of court-packing,” Biden said in an interview. “But I’m not — I don’t want to get off on that whole issue. I want to keep focused.”
It’s not the first time Biden’s campaign has faced questions about favorable treatment from the press. After the first presidential debate, a count showed that moderator Chris Wallace directed more time and forceful questioning at Trump about condemning white supremacy’s role in sparking violence across the country than he did questioning Biden about antifa and Black Lives Matter’s more well-documented role. In all, Trump was pressed to condemn white supremacy six times while Biden was never asked to condemn antifa or BLM.
Biden has spent much of the general election campaign maintaining a low-profile and operated mostly from his Delaware home.
Biden’s campaign has cited concerns over the coronavirus as justification for his low-profile campaign. However, critics have questioned whether aides are trying to protect him from a gaffe that could cost him the election.
