The campaign team for Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden blasted the media coverage of Biden and his alleged “series of gaffes.”
Responding to a myriad of articles and blogs about Biden, 76, and his different mistakes involving facts and names during campaign speeches, one member of his inner circle took aim at the media in general for coverage he felt did not accurately portray Biden’s success thus far. “I don’t know of anybody who has taken as sustained and vitriolic a negative pounding as Biden and who has come through it with the strength he has,” said one of Biden’s top advisers in a Wednesday POLITICO article. “So why isn’t the argument not that he’s a ‘fragile front runner,’ but instead why is this guy so strong? How is he able to withstand this?”
Biden received significant coverage in recent weeks after making a multitude of mistakes while recounting the story of a war hero, dates of the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and whether or not he was vice president during the mass shooting at a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
[Related: ‘He keeps saying stupid stuff’: Iowa Democrats concerned about Biden’s gaffes]
The adviser continued his criticism of the media, which he considered to consist almost primarily of young, sensitive reporters looking for a cause to be offended by and who had a vested, personal interest in propping up more progressive candidates. The adviser further praised Biden’s wherewithal under such scrutiny, saying “it is unrelenting. Every story that has been written about Biden for a month has been negative!”
“I would ask Warren and Sanders and these folks: He’s been pummeled for months. For months! So why is he going to fall apart now?” the adviser said of Biden’s strongest competition for the Democratic nomination.
The same adviser went on to note failures in the competing campaigns of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and wondered why they didn’t seem to be receiving the same coverage. “He’s still leading the race nationally. He’s leading in Iowa. It looks like he’s in a dead heat in New Hampshire,” said the adviser. “I don’t know why the story in New Hampshire isn’t how Bernie Sanders went from sixty to fourteen. And why is it that Biden is beating Warren in Massachusetts? And he’s way ahead in South Carolina. And this is all on the back end of really the most vicious press I think anyone’s experienced.”
The adviser went on to note that Biden’s alleged success in battleground states is evidence the media’s got it wrong and Biden is as formidable as ever. “So that to me is a statement of strength,” the adviser said. “And anyone who’s sitting around waiting for him to fall apart—you know what, it hasn’t happened yet.”
Still, others remained skeptical of Biden’s ability to avoid further mistakes and maintain his front-runner status. “The dude does not know what is going on,” said a senior adviser to another Democratic candidate. “He is not in fighting shape to beat Trump. You put him on stage together with Trump and they’re both gonna forget shit but Trump is sharper. The dude is just old and it’s showing and they’re fighting every day to make the case that’s not happening but it is.”
Former Democratic state legislator in South Carolina and firm supporter of Sen. Kamala Harris, Bakari Sellers stated directly that Biden was simply too old for serious consideration. “Joe Biden has been running for president since before I was born,” Sellers said bluntly. “Joe Biden is nearly 80 years old and he’s running to be president of the United States.”
