‘This Level of Hand-Holding Was Abnormal’: Axios Reporter Defends Devastating Report On Biden’s Advance Prep
CNN’s Boris Sanchez spoke to Axios reporter Alex Thompson about the large-print signs that were set up by President Joe Biden’s advance team, and he maintained that the extent of the preparation for Biden was “abnormal.”
The signs, which were provided to Axios on Sunday by an unnamed Biden aide, were meant to provide Biden a visual aid while attending public events. But while some who have worked on campaigns before said this kind of prep was normal, Thompson said the “level of hand-holding” involved in preparing Biden went beyond that:
Sanchez: Walk us through what you learned about the staff’s advance work, especially in relation to other key officials and administrations. How does it compare?
Thompson: Absolutely. So the whole reason this came to me is because after the debate, people that had worked on Joe Biden’s events in recent — several months basically started to replay things in their heads. At first they thought, you know, sometimes advance people can just be very, for lack of a better word, detail oriented. And they just sort of dismissed it as that.
But after seeing the debate and then after thinking about the fact that the president relies on things that every president relies on, including advance staff. But he does so in a way that is distinct and seems to rely on them more. One example is the teleprompter, right? Joe Biden uses a teleprompter. Every president uses the teleprompter. But Joe Biden uses it more, seems to rely on it more. He even uses it in small fundraising events.
So basically what was happening is that even in small, usually casual events with just not that many people, the White House was very, very concerned about every single step the president was taking, that even experienced staffers thought was a little bit unusual. And then after the debate, they basically feeling that maybe this was to make up for his limitations. One person that worked an event for Joe Biden recently said that they treated a small fundraiser like it was a NATO summit.
Sanchez: Wow. I’m wondering what your response is to those like Dan Pfeiffer, he’s a former [Barack Obama] senior adviser who make the case that this isn’t really out of the norm, that this is done for a slew of different principles.
Thompson: Absolutely. And Dan is right, that very detailed advance work is is normal for this sort of level of principal. But what was striking to people that have worked these events who also, like Dan said, hey, like, this is not — they have done lots of advance work before. They said the people that worked Joe Biden’s events said that this level of detail, this level of hand-holding was abnormal, that basically things that appear normal for more presidents, Joe Biden’s campaign, his White House, basically takes it to a new level, which, in retrospect to the debate seems excessive and to sort of obscure his potential limitations.
Watch the video above via CNN.
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