The Biden Campaigns Losing Battle

Published

1 year ago

June 18, 2024

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Watch a few minutes of the NBA Finals , and youll likely notice how the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic argues with the officials every time a whistle blows in his direction. Working the refs is a long-standing tradition, but Doncic, one of basketballs marquee stars, takes complaining to a new level. In his eyes, the referees are incapable of correctly calling the game, no matter the circumstance. Whining has become muscle memory.

A similar dynamic has lately been playing out between members of President Joe Bidens campaign staff and journalists. Each week, Biden-team members and a cadre of notable Democrats spend hours locked in a public spat not just against former President Donald Trump, but against the media.

Recently, TJ Ducklo, a Biden-campaign senior adviser for communications, posted on X: The President just spoke to approx 1,000 mostly black voters in Philly about the massive stakes in this election. @MSNBC @CNN & others did not show it. Instead, more coverage about a trial that impacts one person: Trump. Then theyll ask, why isnt your message getting out? Responding to Ducklo, the election statistician turned Substack writer Nate Silver pointed out that Democrats often lament that the media dont cover Trumps misdeeds enough. Ducklo fired back: This perfectly incapsulates [sic] the disconnect between the ivory tower/beltway know-it-alls and voters. Donald Trumps trials dont impact real people. They impact Donald Trump. His horrific, draconian, dangerous policies impact voters. Cover those. Stop covering polls & process.

To suggest that a formerand potentially futurepresidents legal woes are items not worth discussing is, frankly, absurd. But Ducklos complaint was part of a much larger theme: Bidens allies believe that journalists are failing to meet the moment; that theyre falling back on horse-race coverage and ignoring the knock of fascism at Americas door.

Many Biden supporters and campaign staffers have fashioned this argument into a shield against any critical coverage of the president. Like a previous White House occupant raving about fake stories, they sometimes behave as if they are the arbiters of whats newsworthy at all. Sounding a bit like Donald Trump isnt the only problem with this strategy, though; its also highly unlikely to advance the campaigns larger goal of actually winning the election.

Bidens first bid for president , in 1988, was one of the subjects covered in Richard Ben Cramers What It Takes, a masterpiece of the campaign-journalism genre. When Cramer died from lung cancer in 2013, Biden, then serving as vice president, spoke wistfully at his memorial service. Although Biden has endured his share of embarrassments that have triggered unflattering news cycles across his decades in public serviceincluding a plagiarism scandal that ended his 88 bidhe has maintained an apparently earnest belief in the role of journalism in upholding democracy. Now some members of his 2024 team worry that the press has become Trumps unwitting accomplice.

David A. Graham: How Musk and Biden are changing the media

Rather than reserve their concerns for phone calls, as was custom for virtually every pre-Trump presidential campaign, they are following Trumps lead and making their attacks public. Online and on social media, youve certainly seen Bidens aides get into it more with reporters, David Folkenflik, NPRs media correspondent, told me. God knows these are conversations that would have taken place in private before.

Headlines, specifically those that appear in The New York Times, are daily points of consternation. Campaign gripes sometimes seem to share a wavelength with the X parody account New York Times Pitchbot, which has carved out a niche satirizing both sides journalism. Ammar Moussa, the Biden campaigns director of rapid response, posted on X recently that The Wall Street Journal had committed unbelievable journalistic malpractice for its story on what members of Congress allegedly say behind closed doors about the presidents mental acuity. The complaint among Bidens allies was that the story didnt include enough quotes from people who believe the president is up to the job.

Speaking broadly about this moment, Ducklo told me, Media cant cover this election like this is George W. Bush versus Al Gore. Donald Trump is a fundamentally, uniquely different candidate that has to be covered in a uniquely different way than ever before. What does this look like in practice? The Biden campaign seems to believe that journalists should stop reporting on polls, rallies, and other tentpoles of traditional presidential races, and instead devote their resources to telling Americans that Trump wants to be a dictator, over and over again. If that means ignoring Bidens missteps and weaknesses, well, the Biden campaign can accept that.

When I asked the Biden campaign about its relationship with the media, it emailed me a statement: This election isnt just about a few minor policy differenceswe are running against a guy that has all but promised to erode American democracy, rule as a dictator and strip Americans of their freedom Donald Trump has fundamentally changed the stakes of this election, and we firmly believe it is everyones job to not take their eye off the ball of just how dangerous Donald Trump has become to the basic fundamentals this country was founded on, the free press especially.

Most of the people willing to speak on the record about this issue have the word former in their job title. Former Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz, who served in Barack Obamas administration, has become one of the most fiery Democratic voices on the perceived 2024 problem. WSJ adopting the Arthur Sulzberger extortion approach: give us an interview or well parrot Republicans that Biden is too old, Schultz posted on X recently, attacking both that contentious Journal report and the New York Times publisher in the space of a few words.

Youre right, I pop off a lot on this online, Schultz told me. He also acknowledged that most readers of publications like the Times are probably supporting Biden, and that its the low-information voters whom Democrats need to do a better job of winning over. The instrument to reach swing voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, for example, is not the Times, Schultz said, but that doesnt mean the way The New York Times covers this race is insignificant.

Schultz, who playfully referred to himself as a Democratic hack, said that he believes the media have fallen into their worst habit of covering only a single story each campaign cycle. In 2016, he said, that story was Hillary Clintons private email server. Although the media did obsess over Clintons emails, former FBI Director James Comeys very public investigation into the subject is what made it impossible to avoid. At any rate, reporters devoted tons of resources to documenting the 2016 Trump campaigns many scandals, including the infamous Trump Tower meeting about potential dirt on Clinton, and the Access Hollywood tape. Journalists were extremely tough on Trump then, as they are now.

But Schultz sees the past differently and now believes that 2024s single media narrative is Bidens age. He argued that if you were to ask 100 D.C. reporters which candidate is more capable of thinking through and discussing any policy issue, 100 of them would say Joe Biden. Yet Biden, he said, is the only one who gets hammered on age. Schultz even went so far as to say that political journalists have become Trumps enablers: The confluence of the burn-it-all-down message and journalists having a long-standing bias towards negativity it amounts to putting the thumb on the scale for Donald Trump.

Mark Leibovich: Ruth Bader Biden

Kate Bedingfield, a member of Bidens 2020 campaign team who went on to become his first White House communications director before leaving last year, echoed Schultzs larger critique. I am not arguing that Biden should never be criticized, she told me. I dont believe that. Yet she also sid that Bidens flubs on the campaign trail were being covered with the same intensity as, for instance, a Trump statement about how hed subvert the Constitution. Those two things are not comparable, and I dont think its a partisan statement to say that, Bedingfield said.

Biden allies are quick to bring up variations on that theme: The candidates are not comparable, but theyre being covered as if they were. Kate Berner, the White House deputy communications director until last year, suggested that one obvious and major difference between Trump and Biden was precisely their relationship with the media: Reporters feel unsafe covering Trump events, not Biden events.

I have covered many Trump rallies and have never felt unsafe, even when asking his supporters difficult questions. Its true, though, that vilifying the media has been a building block of Trumps political identity. Once, in an interview with 60 Minutes Leslie Stahl, Trump explained his motivation: The more he went after the media, the less voters would trust any negative story published about him. This strategy, in tandem with one coined by his former adviser Steve Bannon, to flood the zone with shit, has succeeded. And if Trump returns to office next year, he has threatened to prosecute his adversariespotentially including journalists.

The Biden campaign doesnt menace journalists, but it doesnt trust them, either. Biden has held the fewest press conferences of any American president since Ronald Reagan. And Biden staffers clearly believe they have every right to set the agenda of journalistic decision making. As Berner put it, Theres plenty of work that the White House and the campaign and others do behind the scenes to shape a story, to push back, to have editorial conversations. But when coverage is particularly out of bounds, its fair for them to make those criticisms public, because working the refs publicly is an important way of taking that spotlight and turning it around back on them. That this statement sounded Trumpian seemed lost on her.

Few people better understand the competing motivations of the media and politicians than David Axelrod. Long before becoming an architect of Barack Obamas presidential election campaign and a White House adviser, Axelrod was a newspaper journalist. He told me about covering City Hall in Chicago and having mayors threaten to expel him from the building because they didnt like the stories he was writing. Axelrods opinion on this strategy is that its ineffective.

Generally, my view is if you are spending your time complaining about news coverage, its kind of a losers lament and a waste of time, Axelrod said. He went on: Trading snarky asides with members of the news media is not, to me, putting points on the board. Unless youre going to embrace the idea that Trump has, which is youre gonna make the news media a foil I dont really sense thats their plan, he said of the Biden campaign.

Sometimes youre going to get a bad story that you deserve, he add later. And sometimes youre going to get stories that you dont like, but that are within the parameters of what good reporting is. And those you should let go.

Trump can win this race without favorable media coverage: By spending the better part of a decade turning the press into his staunch adversary, hes become dependent on negative stories. Critical reporting fires Trump up, but it also gives him material that he can use, in turn, to fire up his base. Trump has sold millions of voters on a fantasy world in which crooked journalists peddle fake news even when theyre recording, reporting, and broadcasting his quotes verbatim. He and his voters believe that any election Trump loses is rigged. That the former presidents trials are all shams. That the Democrats are one enemy, the Department of Justice is another, and the media are a third.

From the January/February 2024 issue: Is journalism ready?

Biden is in a different, arguably opposite position. His campaign argues that Democrats, unlike Republicans, are actually tethered to reality. Bidens people are desperately trying to convince voters that the country is in much better shape than most Americans seem to believe. That elections are safe. That the economy, and unemployment, are not as bad as youve heard. Bidens team needs voters to trust reputable publications that reliably print and publish factssuch as the Times and the Journal.

Then some campaign staffers and high-profile Democratic supporters turn around and attack these publications, in the process casting doubt on their reliability. Its a losing proposition.

When Luka Doncic works the refs, hes not helping his cause. Last Wednesday, during a pivotal game in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, he was forced to sit on the bench with just minutes to go after fouling out (and complaining about it). When Biden-campaign allies work the media, theyre at best wasting time, suggesting that they have run out of better ideas for how to try to save their candidate.

Bidens belief in the Constitution means he supports a free and independent press. Authoritarians rise by lying and sowing mistrust. If journalists are truly going to combat that forceas Bidens campaign implores them to dothey will have to be honest and rigorous about not just Trump but also his opponent.

Technology

Broadcom and Costco’s rich valuations leave little room for error as battleground stocks

Published

1 hour ago

December 14, 2025

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Broadcom and Costco's rich valuations leave little room for error as battleground stocks

Environment

Volkswagen’s Tesla Robotaxi rival gets put to the test in Wolfsburg

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3 hours ago

December 14, 2025

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Volkswagen's Tesla Robotaxi rival gets put to the test in Wolfsburg

Volkswagen Group is starting the next testing phase in Wolfsburg with its self-driving research vehicle Gen.Urban1. After intensive trials, the Gen.Urban can now drive autonomously in real urban traffic.

Volkswagen is putting its Tesla Robotaxi rival through its paces in Wolfsburg, Germany, where the self-driving Gen.Urban research vehicle is now driving autonomously in real urban traffic – without a steering wheel or pedals!

VW’s Gen.Urban research project sets out to explore how passengers experience riding in a self-driving vehicle on real roads, among real drivers, and without a traditional steering wheel or pedals, and what those requirements might mean for future vehicle concepts.

Some of the key questions VW is asking include:

How do people spend their time in a self-driving vehicle?
Which digital features best support work, entertainment, or relaxation?
How should interaction between the vehicle and passengers be designed, particularly for older people or children?
Most importantly: Do people feel comfortable?

“The technology for autonomous driving is making rapid progress,” explains Dr. Nikolai Ardey, Head of Volkswagen Group Innovation. “With our Gen.Urban research vehicle, we want to understand exactly how passengers experience autonomous driving. Because: The key to a positive customer experience is to build trust – through meaningful interaction, a relaxed atmosphere, and intelligent assistance systems that respond precisely to the needs of passengers. Ultimately, technology should fit people, not the other way around. We will benefit from these insights across the entire Group in the long term.”

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Not QUITE fully autonomous

It’s important to note here that, while Volkswagen designed the Gen.Urban without a steering wheel or pedals, the vehicles participating in these test have a trained safety driver monitoring the vehicle from the passenger seat, ready to step in to control the vehicle using a specially developed control panel with a joystick – which means we’re still a long way from the 2022 Volkswagen Gen.Travel concept (above).

Even so, Volkswagen’s autonomous driving efforts have been in public testing phases since at least 2023, when the company unveiled a fleet of ten specially modified VW.Buzz AD electric vans. Tests with those vans have gone well enough, at least, to lead Volkswagen to announce plans for large-scale production.

The current test phase is limited to Volkswagen Group employees as riders, and is planned for a period of several weeks. If results are satisfactory, VW could expand its rider base by the end of Q1.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volkswagen.

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Environment

Past classic that deserves an electric update: Honda Element

Published

3 hours ago

December 14, 2025

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Past classic that deserves an electric update: Honda Element

Electric Honda Element Concept — Honda Element concept; made with ChatGPT.

Ask anyone who owned or owns one, and they’ll tell you that Honda Element was ahead of its time, delivering a flexible interior, car-like ride, and SUV-levels of visibility – and, if Honda really wanted to, they could roll out an all-new, all-electric Element riding on an Ultium-style electric skateboard tomorrow.

Honda’s first Element made its debut way back in 2003, when it was still a bit strange to think of companies like Cadillac, Volkswagen, and Porsche selling anything as big and clunky as an SUV. It earned plenty of fans, however, and for all the same reasons, they’ll love an electric Element even more.

Consider the following:

Car-like handling

The original Element rolled around on a lot of bits originally developed for the Honda Civic – widely regarded as a fun-to-drive, great-handling little car. That car-based chassis earned it some mockery among automotive journalists who, more than two decades ago, still widely believed that an SUV had to have some off-road chops to it.

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Today, we’re a more enlightened bunch. In 2025, an SUV needs to be practical above all else, emphasizing the “Utility” aspect. With a low-slung, low-cg, and low-intrusion electric skateboard underneath its boxy body (more on that in a minute), a modern Element would be than more than capable of delivering a “car-like” ride with plenty of sporty acceleration, as well.

Flexible interior

Honda Element — Element interior; via Honda.

Remember that comment about the low-intrusion nature of the Ultium EV chassis? Without a transmission tunnel to get in the way, Honda was able to offer a massive, flat floor that made the Element ideal for moving, camping, beach days, tailgating, antiquing, and (not to put too fine a point on it) drive-in movies – which we still had those in Florida until at least 2010.

In an EV, all that flat-floor goodness is still there, with the added benefit of being able to offer a flat floor without a transmission tunnel ruining the ~~bedroom~~ cargo bay.

Add a bit of extra width inherited from the Prologue, toss in a friendly ASIMO interface to keep the investment class happy, and offer a full range of inflatable tents, dog beds, and other overlanding, pet, or surf-friendly accessories, and Honda could watch the money roll in. At the very least, if Honda had built a modern Element instead of the Prologue on GM’s skateboard, they might have an easier time moving them in post-rebate America, I think. What do you guys think?

You guys are smart, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find all the problems with this particular take – and I can’t wait to hear them! Should it be FWD only? A plug-in hybrid? Ship with a tent? Scroll on down to the comments and let me know what you think it would take to make a battery-powered Honda Element revival make sense to you.

Original content from Electrek.

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