Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden laughed off the myriad internet memes poking fun at his speaking skills and history with women, saying voters and particularly young people aren’t getting the majority of their news online.
During a wide-ranging interview Wednesday on Snapchat’s “Good Luck America” daily political show, which was also published by Vanity Fair, Mr. Biden was asked by host Peter Hamby how he plans to “fight back” against the notion that he’s “old” and “kind of lame.”
“The Shorenstein Center up at Harvard did an analysis of all of the anti-Biden memes out there on the internet,” Mr. Hamby said. “According to them, the top three slogans they’re seeing, this is from the left and the right, are Dementia Joe, Sleepy Joe, Creepy Joe. Barack Obama reportedly said last week that his daughters had been showing him anti-Biden TikToks. Basically, there’s an entire discourse on the internet right now that’s painting you as creepy and old and out of touch and kind of lame. How do you fight back against that?”
Mr. Biden gave a chuckle before responding, “I can hardly wait to get onto the stage with Donald Trump. Look, I certainly miss being out on the trail connecting face-to-face to people. Trump is a master at laying nicknames on people and it’s this whole deal.
“But the vast majority of the voters out there, including young people, are not getting all their news from the internet,” he continued. “But I’m trying to compete there. We’re getting started late in the comparative sense. One hundred and two million video views across social media platforms since mid-March for me.”
“And in terms of energy, I don’t have any problem comparing my energy level to Donald Trump, who I’m really resisting giving a nickname to,” he added.
Mr. Biden’s response was highlighted by the Republican National Committee’s rapid response director Steve Guest.
This has to be the most 🔥🔥🔥 thing ever said to Joe Biden.
“Basically there’s an entire discourse on the internet right now that’s painting you as creepy and old and out of touch and kinda lame” pic.twitter.com/fjlIUb1DGg
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 13, 2020
