Fascism and right wing extremism, the cost of rent and groceries, power outages, and voter registration in response to the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade are all on the rise, but White House reporters and the mainstream media Tuesday night were obsessed not with those issues facing Americans but with one question: Why did President Joe Biden fly to Delaware that evening to vote in his state’s primary election?
And they’re paying the price, at least from critics angered at what they see is the nationwide mainstream media desperate for a Biden scandal that does not exist, forcing them to try to create one out of thin air.
Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Business were among the most obsessed with what many on social media felt was a non-story.
“President Biden, who depended on mail-in votes to win office in 2020, unexpectedly flew Air Force One to his home state of Delaware on Tuesday to cast a primary election ballot in-person,” Bloomberg Business Executive editor for U.S. Government news Mike Shepard wrote in a tweet promoting Bloomberg News White House Correspondent Jordan Fabian’s report: “Biden Jets to Delaware to Vote Instead of Using Mail Ballot.”
Melody Murphy, the chief brand officer for Louisville, Kentucky’s Metro United Way, responded by summing up what many others were saying: “This is not news. Thankful for a President that exercises his right to vote as all of us should. So many other things to report on.”
Susan Bordson, a communications consultant also responded to Shepard’s tweet, saying, “Desperate for a scandal, eh?”
“I smell desperation from some of the DC Beltway newsrooms that primarily market themselves as *DC insider gossip* publications to have a scandal. They’re SCRAPING,” she added.
How big a story did the media want this to be?
Politico’s White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire, an MSNBC host and frequent commentator, was among the first to report the news, kicking off the rush to report with a very incomplete tweet.
“NEW,” Lemire wrote for maximum attention. “President Biden and the First Lady are leaving the White House to make an unannounced trip to Wilmington, Delaware.”
To the average American that easily could sound like a crisis. Was the president sick?
25 minutes later Lemire added this tweet, explaining, finally, that the President was off to vote:
CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe posted four tweets Wednesday morning about the President’s trip to vote, reporting on questions the White House press secretary was forced to field.
“Aboard AF1 to Detroit, @PressSec pressed by reporters on why @POTUS and @FLOTUS flew back to Delaware Tues. for primary day and didn’t vote early in person or absentee,” O’Keefe tweeted.
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“In response, @PressSec said the president has maintained a busy schedule and ‘It worked out best for him to vote on Tuesday. He thought it best for him’ to vote in person. (But the president was home in Delaware Saturday and had nothing on his schedule besides afternoon mass.),” he added.
His last tweet on the topic reads: “Should add: @PressSec said @POTUS and @FLOTUS Biden wanted to vote in person in part to thank election officials and poll volunteers, who’ve been the subject of scrutiny and harassment in recent years like never before.”
Responses to O’Keefe’s Twitter thread were angry.
One read: “You realize that the President was modeling democracy and showcasing the importance of everyone engaging in the civic process of voting, correct? Jesus. This country is in the grave political peril that is because of the national media and rubes like this.”
Blomoberg’s Jennifer Jacobs, one of the most prolific reporters during the Trump years, frequently serving up important scoops, was also among those focused on President Biden’s travels, posting several tweets about the news.
Daily Kos’ political director David Nir responded, “On top of everything else wrong with this tweet, there *was* a very important statewide primary for auditor. The incumbent was convicted of corruption in July and got ousted tonight. So this tetchy complaint isn’t even accurate.”
Economist David Rothschild, a frequent commentator, added: “(1) Good example to vote in all elections (2) Previous president flew masses of US employees each weekend to his resorts, then charged US millions to house and feed them.”
National security and civil liberties journalist Marcy Wheeler also weighed in, blasting Jacobs:
“Jennifer Jacobs’ big scoops about Trump were that he and several other people in the White House were lying about COVID Dxes. Her big scoop about Joe Biden is that he did his civic duty.”
Attorney Eugene Freedman also served up criticism of Jacobs’ tweets.
“The extremist takeover of school boards is based on this mentality that they are not high-profile elections, so they’re not worth voting. It’s why books are banned. It’s why state legislatures are gerrymandering state & Congressional districts. All elections are important!”
Will Stancil, a policy researcher at the University of Minnesota, responded to one of Jacob’s tweets, saying: “The last president tried to hold G8 at his private resort, moved White House operations to his other private resort for half the year, and regularly charged the government for stays at his corruption hotel, and you’re gonna complain about Biden using government resources to VOTE?”