Fellow Patriot: The voluntary financial generosity of supporters like you keeps our hard-hitting analysis coming. Please support the 2024 Year-End Campaign today. Thank you for your support! —Nate Jackson, Managing Editor

March 26, 2020

Coronavirus Has Forced Biden Far From His Comfort Zone — and It Shows

Joe Biden is in an awkward position. Whatever your politics, it is hard not to sympathize with his plight.

Joe Biden is in an awkward position. Whatever your politics, it is hard not to sympathize with his plight.

If this were a typical political season, Biden would be riding high. After his sweep of last week’s primaries, he is presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Under normal circumstances, the former vice president would be focused on reaching out to rival Bernie Sanders’s supporters and uniting his party behind him, while simultaneously making the pivot to a general election footing. He would be working overtime to leverage his astonishing political resurrection and the tide of good press it brought him into an appeal to independents and disaffected Donald Trump voters. He would be wooing voters with his trademark warmth and relatability at rallies and parades. He would be steadily advancing the message that if Americans elect him president, their government and political culture will become less nasty and more normal.

But he can’t do those things. Coronavirus and its quarantines have put the presidential race into suspended animation. Through no fault of his own, Biden is blocked from campaigning in the only way he’s used to. He’s a candidate famous for his empathy, running against an incumbent without a shred of empathy — but empathy doesn’t help him amid nationwide social distancing.

Meanwhile, the campaign clock is ticking and there is just one subject every voter in the country cares about. The president Biden hopes to unseat is on TV every day talking about it — and apparently winning approval as he does so.

So, like a lot of people now working remotely, Biden has been forced to take his White House quest online. It’s a strategy he would never willingly have chosen, but needs must when the devil drives. Biden announced last week that he would give regular shadow briefings on the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal, in Politico’s words, of showing “how he would handle the crisis and address what he calls the lies and failures of President Trump.”

Biden’s first such “briefing” was on Monday. But though he did it in his basement rec room at home in Delaware, it was clear just how far from his comfort zone he was.

For starters, it wasn’t a briefing. Though Biden claims to be consulting with “medical advisors and economic advisors literally four or five hours a day,” he had no new information to impart. He echoed some standard criticisms of Trump’s handling of the crisis, at one point quoting President Lincoln’s frustrated message to a sluggish general during the Civil War: “If you don’t want to use the army, may I borrow it?”

But Biden himself came across as little better than sluggish. His remarks weren’t engaging or stirring. It’s hard to imagine that anyone watching, with the possible exception of Biden’s most devoted fan, came away more enthusiastic or encouraged. Without the energy of a crowd to buoy him, he seemed lost and unconvincing. At one point he could be seen frantically gesturing when his teleprompter stopped moving.

In fairness, this was Biden’s first attempt; perhaps he’ll get better over time. Will it be enough? If he is to have any chance of defeating an incumbent president in the midst of a national trauma, Biden needs to convince tens of millions of voters not only that he is ready to take over the presidency, but that he can handle the job more effectively and successfully. That’s a steep climb for any challenger — no sitting president has been defeated since 1992. It’s far steeper for a challenger stuck at home.

I don’t endorse Biden’s policy views, but I wholeheartedly applaud his call for restoring respect, civility, and kindness to the conduct of the presidency. Like countless viewers, I was appalled when Trump, asked during a briefing what he would say to Americans frightened by the pandemic, snarled: “I say that you’re a terrible reporter, that’s what I say.”

Over the weekend, the Biden campaign released a video contrasting Trump’s answer to the one Biden gave when asked a comparable question during a debate. Where the president was bitter and insulting, the former vice president was calm and encouraging. The video captured one of the core values at stake in this year’s election, and showed the presumptive Democratic standard-bearer in a good light.

But packaged video can go only so far. Biden needs to be out on the campaign trail, connecting in person with the voters and communities on which the election will turn. No one has ever been elected president from his basement. It would be a cruel irony if Biden’s presidential hopes were miraculously resurrected only to be killed for good by a deadly epidemic.

(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe).

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.