Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign issued an apology after his first-ever virtual town hall was interrupted multiple times by “technical difficulties” and perceived gaffes.
“Tonight, you tuned in to our first ever virtual town hall. And unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties. That’s our bad,” his campaign explained.
“We’re working every day to make this campaign better. And in this new era, we are experimenting with new technology. We promise to do better next time.”
The campaign also posted an edited version online.
The town hall, which was held online due to fears about the coronavirus, was widely panned by news media and social media users.
The Verge labeled the event as a “technical nightmare,” and Fox News’s headline read, “Plug pulled on Biden ‘virtual town hall’ after technical glitches, miscues.”
A CNN Twitter post described the event as a “technical calamity.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s first “virtual town hall” was a technical calamity as his campaign confronts the same challenges of unexpected remote work that millions of Americans are facing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic https://t.co/aufgz9pBzm
— CNN (@CNN) March 14, 2020
Zach Parkinson, the deputy director of communications for President Trump’s reelection campaign, posted a clip of the town hall on Twitter, calling it a “complete disaster.”
This is part of the virtual town hall the Biden campaign wouldn’t post
Garbled/cut out audio, blank screens, randomly going live to unsuspecting participants
A complete disaster pic.twitter.com/eLGgHyPm91
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) March 14, 2020
Liberal activist and political consultant Jordan Uhl referred to Biden’s performance in general as “bizarre.”
“In a bizarre, meandering livestream put on by Joe Biden’s campaign today, he forgets what year it is and when, if he doesn’t lose, he would be in office,” Uhl said on Twitter. “At another point, he seemingly forgets he’s on a live stream and walks out of frame. The feed cuts away to a logo instead.”
In a bizarre, meandering livestream put on by Joe Biden’s campaign today, he forgets what year it is and when, if he doesn’t lose, he would be in office.
At another point, he seemingly forgets he’s on a live stream and walks out of frame. The feed cuts away to a logo instead. pic.twitter.com/yM2zFoBfhv
— jordan (@JordanUhl) March 14, 2020
“I’m sorry this is such a disjointed effort here,” Biden said during the town hall before signing off.
The Biden campaign has said that they will evaluate holding in-person events on a case-by-case basis as fears of the coronavirus have caused the cancellation of large gatherings across the country.
