Joe Biden isn’t exactly making himself accessible to the general public these days.
Three and a half months before voters decide whether the former vice president or President Trump should occupy the White House, the Biden campaign seems fine avoiding any grueling interviewers. On Monday, the Biden campaign announced he would appear on the premiere of Joy Reid’s new program on MSNBC, The ReidOut.
Biden has largely avoided national media, sticking to local outlets such as NBC News 12 in Arizona earlier this month, where he faced questions about school openings and the coronavirus. He has appeared several times on late-night shows such as The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, joking about Trump and actions he would take to remove the president from office if he refused to concede a loss in November.
The few times Biden has faced tough questioning have led to mini media cycles about his propensity for misstatements that only reinforces his campaign’s strategy of largely staying in Delaware. In May, Biden spoke with liberal talk show host Charlamagne Tha God and said, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
When speaking with the left-wing internet media outlet NowThis earlier this month, the Trump campaign latched onto his comments on the “defund the police” movement.
“Surplus military equipment for law enforcement, they don’t need that! The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood. It’s like the military invading,” the former vice president said. “They don’t know anybody. They become the enemy. They’re supposed to be protecting these people.” He later said, “Yes, absolutely,” when asked if he’d be open to redirecting some funding away from police departments into other services.
The few times Biden ventures out of his home to local stops in Wilmington, Delaware, or neighboring Pennsylvania, only pre-screened members of his traveling pool are allowed to attend. When giving press conferences, Biden typically reads from a list of reporters. The strategy marks a significant departure from the Democratic primary, in which virtually any credible outlet was permitted to attend his campaign events and ask questions.
Only when a Fox News reporter barked questions at Biden as he was exiting an event in Wilmington last month did he face a question about his supposed cognitive decline.
“I’ve been testing, and I’m constantly testing. Look, all you got to do is watch me,” Biden said. “And I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against.”
Critics of the media’s treatment of Biden pointed to the length of time it took for any reporter to ask him about sexual harassment allegations by Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer of his in the 1990s. Weeks and several interviews went by before he was confronted with the allegations by MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski. Biden has repeatedly flatly denied any improper behavior took place between the two.
Republican strategists and allies of Trump said they expect Biden’s sizable lead over the president to shrink following more exposure to the press. For the time being, Biden’s campaign has shown no willingness to change its strategy.
“Let Biden sit through an interview like this,” Trump said Monday, referring to his interview with Fox News host Chris Wallace. “He’ll be on the ground crying for mommy. He’ll say, ‘Mommy, mommy, please, take me home.’”
Despite the uneven scheduling of the White House press briefings, Trump remains by most accounts one of the most accessible presidents in modern history, often taking questions from the press on his way to various modes of transportation or following the end of cabinet meetings.
On Sunday, Fox News released its interview with Trump and network anchor Chris Wallace, which featured heated exchanges between the two on topics related to the coronavirus and police reform. But despite supporters of the president regularly attacking some Fox News hosts for alleged bias against the president, Wallace expressed disappointment on Biden’s reluctance to engage with the press more often.
“The president is out there. He’s out there in this broiling heat with me for an hour, took all the questions. You can like his answers or dislike them, but he had answers,” Wallace said, adding that Biden is “going to have to be more exposed” and learn to “take questions just as tough as the ones I asked this president.”
