On the day he’s announced his third run for president in 32 years, Joe Biden appears to be guiding a tour around our shared hometown of Wilmington, DE. Well, he’s actually from Scranton, but who cares.
He is also, as Biden is wont to do, talking a Bunch of Nonsense.
After Biden met reporters at the Wilmington train station and told them that he had asked former President Barack Obama not to endorse in the race—a thing I totally believe happened—he began traversing the city of Wilmington. Here’s Biden’s response when asked to give a message to the rest of the world:
“Coming back like we used to be?” What? This is, quite literally, Make America Great Again aimed at anyone who’s ever bought an “I’d Rather Be Eating Brunch” shirt. (As a message to the rest of the world, I don’t know if what “we used to be” is very good either.)
Later, Biden said the election was about “the best person to lead the country,” and brushed off a question from a CNN reporter of why it took so long for him to jump in the race, and if that decision was influenced by a view that the approximately 4 million other Democrats running for the nomination were capable of beating Donald Trump.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Biden responded, and then he said this:
It’s about, it’s about—what I think I told you a long time ago—it’s a long, long campaign. We’re starting campaigns back in January, February, kinda early in my view. And look, we’re putting together I think a pretty good staff, in capability and websites.
OK.
Later, Biden was asked to respond to a Trump tweet, and this happened:
Right you are, Joe. Everybody does know Donald Trump.
Even though his campaign just (officially) started, it also appears that Biden is attempting to head off criticism he’s bound to face during the primary. Deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield confirmed on Thursday that Biden had spoken to Anita Hill, although it’s still not clear whether or not he apologized to her for his role in the treatment she suffered during Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearing:
Tonight, Biden will be attending a kickoff fundraiser at the Philadelphia home of Comcast CEO David Cohen, which will be hosted and attended by the likes of Independence Blue Cross CEO and GOP donor Daniel Hilferty and union-busting lawyer Steve Cozen. In other words, the absolute best possible way you could kick off a campaign against a shill for corporate interests like Donald Trump.
For the record, you should visit Wilmington, it’s a nice place. For traffic purposes, though, I would just wait until Joe Biden’s in Iowa or whatever to do it.