Was Joe Biden 'rambling' away at town hall? POTUS apologizes for 'long, winding' responses but does not stop
Although President Joe Biden's first town hall since taking office, hosted by CNN, received mixed reviews, it can never be a good sign when the liberal outlet that organized the event characterizes parts of your speech as being on the verge of blabber.
In their key takeaways of the town hall appearance, CNN said the "rambling" senator in Biden showed through on Tuesday, February 16, as he gave long and winding answers to a number of the questions from the audience.
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The outlet said that the long speeches came in response to question about "race and policing as well as how his administration would set policy in regard to China. In some cases he delved deep into policy, in other cases, his answers were harder to follow. While Biden repeatedly apologized for going on too long in his answers, it never really stopped him from going on (and on)."
During the live audience questions, Dessie Levy, a registered nurse, asked Biden if addressing racial disparities in receiving Covid-19 vaccinations was a priority for the president's administration and, if so, how he was planning on addressing the same.
Biden began by addressing the question head-on — clarifying that the biggest part of the issue was "physical access... particularly in rural areas that are distant or in inner-city districts" as he vowed to deploy mobile vans and units to send 1 million vaccines a week to community centers that take care of the “toughest of the toughest neighborhoods in terms of illness” and making vaccines available in thousands of pharmacies "because almost everyone lives".
"Every cop when they get up in the morning and put on that shield has a right to expect to go home to their family that night. Conversely, every kid walking across the street wearing a hoodie is not a member of of a gang" -- Biden pic.twitter.com/pQ2qVvXLuu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 17, 2021
However, when Pastor Dannie Evans, a member of the Wisconsin Racial Disparity Task Force, asked Biden, "How can we be sure that we don't over legislate police officers so that they can do their job to protect the law-abiding citizens who live in these high crime neighborhoods and yet train officers to police with compassion?" the POTUS kind-of lost track and his response went in several directions.
"By number one, not defunding the police,” Biden began, emphasizing the need to “put more money in police work," need to utilize community policing, and “need to provide for more African American and more Hispanic police officers.”
Biden also said that “no one should go to jail for a drug offense. No one should go to jail for the use of a drug. They should go to drug rehabilitation,” to applause from the crowd. "We should be in a position where we change the system of sentencing system," he added.
"No one should go to jail for a drug offense. No one should go to jail for the use of a drug" -- Biden pic.twitter.com/ExxAQLlagD
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 17, 2021
Then, Biden digressed, talking about how police can be kept safe: ”Every cop when they get up in the morning and put on that shield has a right to expect to go home to their family that night.” “Conversely,” Biden added. “Every kid walking across the street wearing a hoodie is not a member of a gang and about to knock somebody off.”
Biden's tendency to ramble or give long, winding speeches is not a new thing. In the book, 'Barack and Joe: The Making of an Extraordinary Partnership', authors Steven Levingston and Michael Eric Dyson, write that the former vice president sometimes used to drive a younger Obama over the edge as once the former president allegedly wrote a note to his adviser saying: "Shoot.Me.Now." while Biden was talking at length.