‘Voters don’t give a s—’: Biden campaign manager downplays his basement confinement

O’Malley Dillon became Biden’s campaign manager in mid-March as normal travel started to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. She previously ran former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign and was deputy campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012.

The former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been self-isolating in his Delaware home since mid-March. His campaign built a professional studio in his basement so he can have a good-quality video feed for remote television interviews and virtual campaign events. It is a striking style change for Biden, who thrives on building personal, in-person connections with voters.

In many interviews he gives nowadays, Biden is asked about the challenges of operating his campaign remotely and gives a softer answer than his campaign manager.

“We find ourselves doing very well in the polls relative to the president. As a matter of fact, to be blunt about it, the more the president’s out, the more it seems to help,” Biden said in an interview with North Carolina’s Spectrum News on Tuesday.

But despite the professional equipment, not all goes smoothly for Biden. In a virtual event last week, he started by asking, “Am I on?” Throughout the event, his feed had such poor reception that it was difficult to understand what he was saying.

The campaign manager is not the only member of Biden’s campaign offering snarky or sarcastic responses to those concerned.

“But how can Biden be growing his lead when people in luxury Shaw condos are peeved that he’s filming his events from his house instead of the Empire State building or on Mars? Who in America could POSSIBLY relate to being home right now? Biden will NEVER win the primary,” tweeted Andrew Bates, who is part of Biden’s rapid response communications team, in response to a poll that showed Biden ahead of President Trump.