Biden Reads Answers to Q&A Off Teleprompter and Has List of Reporters To Ask Questions At “Press Conference”?

Biden's mental acuity has been the scrutiny of many online observers.

Many videos have gone viral, showing Biden making embarrassing verbal gaffes on the campaign trail.

Fox News reports that many people viewed today's presser as a "pretty gentle session" for Joe Biden:

Joe Biden held his first formal press conference in nearly three months and it drew mixed reviews.

During the campaign event in his hometown of Wilmington, Dela., the former vice president continued with his condemnation of President Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak and knocked his 2020 rival over recent reports of the president's response to intelligence that indicate Russian bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan have been paid to the Taliban.

Biden made some headlines while taking questions from reporters, including his plans to not hold any campaign rallies amid the pandemic and taking a firm stance against Confederate statues but urging government officials to "protect" other statues likes Christopher Columbus and George Washington. He also told Fox News' Doug McKelway that he is "constantly tested" for cognitive decline.

Members of the media weighed in on the presser, offering their takes of Biden's performance as well as the performance of the pool reporters.

Axios reporter Jonathan Swan called the press conference a "pretty gentle session" for the former vice president "not really being tested."

Swan noted to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer that Biden wasn't asked about recent revelation from a handwritten memo from a January 2017 Oval Office indicating that Biden suggested investigating Michael Flynn over Logan Act violations despite his previous denial of having little knowledge of the probe into the then-national security adviser. That Axios journalist also found it "surprising" that Biden is actively challenging President Trump's cognitive abilities as part of his messaging.

The Hill media reporter Joe Concha observed that Biden faced zero questions about the ongoing "defund the police" movement that has appeared to be taking shape in New York City and the latest developments in Seattle's CHOP including the recent shootings.

Many media figures took to Twitter to share their opinions on Biden's handling of today's press briefing.

The common theme?

It was a striking difference in how the press treats President Trump.

While the media brutalizes President Trump (even when he was a candidate), they seemed to throw softballs at Joe Biden.

And President Trump himself came out today and hit Biden for reading his answers from a teleprompter! 

"Never have seen this before!" our President Tweeted:

During his 30 minute press briefing, Joe Biden took only 15 questions from press.

Though the media has been hostile towards President Trump, he has never shied away from the press.

Instead, Trump seems to relish the questions that are thrown at him.

Meanwhile, The Hill confirms that this is Biden's first time holding a press conference in nearly 3 months:

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden took questions from reporters at a press conference for the first time in almost three months on Tuesday, giving new insight into his views on the fast-moving political and cultural debates around race in the U.S.

Biden took 15 questions over the course of 30 minutes inside a gymnasium in Wilmington, Del., where a small group of socially distanced reporters were given access to his speech on how to address the coronavirus pandemic.

The former vice president has given scores of interviews to individual media outlets since the coronavirus lockdown began in late March, many of them with local broadcast affiliates. He recently started keeping a light travel schedule with speeches and roundtable events in Texas and Pennsylvania.

But Tuesday’s press conference marked the first time Biden has responded to questions from the campaign’s traveling press corps in 89 days. CBS News correspondent Ed O’Keefe told Biden that “we all hope that you continue to do this through November as often as possible.”

The lack of press conferences has become a point of tension with the Trump campaign, which has been blasting out emails demanding Biden take questions from the press and suggesting topics the media should be asking.

President Trump and his allies have grown frustrated as Biden has opened up a wide lead in the polls over the past three months while keeping a relatively low profile.  

Biden did not face many difficult questions on Tuesday. He was primarily asked to respond to controversies involving Trump, allowing him to pivot to criticism of the president over his handling of the coronavirus and reports that the president did not act on intelligence showing that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants targeting U.S. troops.

However, Biden’s response to how the government should handle protesters seeking to topple statues was revealing and could open a rift with the activist base.

Biden said the federal government has a responsibility to protect statues and monuments of historical figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Christopher Columbus.

President Trump's allies suggest that the only reason Biden is polling stronger than Trump nationally is because he has avoided scrutiny.

By staying in his basement and refusing to hold a press conference, Biden has remained out of the spotlight.

Now, as Biden returns to the national stage, everyone will be focused on his mental acuity and fitness for the highest office in the land.

The voters will have to choose between a fumbling Joe Biden and a decisive, strong President Trump.