John Dean says that pundits bashing Biden for gaffes are "nuts"

[highplainsdem]

Link to tweet

The kind of punditry is nuts. If you watch the tape of this 2 hour event Biden is sharp, energetic and knowledgeable. Makes Trump seem a clown. Yet this WaPo headline: “Joe Biden’s mounting slip-ups and why they matter.” What matters is removing Trump!

Btw, Dean himself made a small gaffe there, typing "The kind" instead of "This kind." I didn't even notice the gaffe at first, didn't see it until I copied it here, because this sort of thing IS so common and we typically ignore it.

But Biden's being held to a different, impossibly high standard.

Dean's tweet about this already has several hundred retweets and thousands of likes, as well as hundreds of replies, including these:

Its a certain kind of reporter who's peddling this nonsense. Gov. Bullock tripped over a sentence and said it wrong, but nobody accused him of being past his prime or gaffe prone. I've seen several TV news hosts make similar mistakes in the past few days as well. Not a peep.


@JohnWDean the media has learned nothing. Focusing on shit that does not matter and playing into trump's narrative. It needs to stop.


Joe Biden has more intelligence, class, empathy, etc than Trump could ever wish for. Media constantly putting Biden under a microscope. After that so-called gaff was made by Biden, the audience applauded, so I am assuming they agreed with him and not upset. Media hype.


Pundits are making the same mistake as 2016. They are dumping on Biden for one little thing or another as they dumped on Hillary day in and day out and let Trump get away with everything. I am sick of it. I'll vote for any Democrat except Tulsi and Marianne. #TRumpOut is the goal


Most of us, in a typical day, make a few gaffes of our own & have to correct them. Or we let them slide & move on. The political "Gotcha!" game already is working at subatomic levels for 2020. There will be much ado about nothing much that actually matters.

[Thekaspervote]

1. Really! With what we have in the WH and we have a candidate that is polling well against ...

That is experienced, ready, willing and able to do the job. Thank you John Dean

[brush]

2. Thanks for posting. Getting trump out is the goal despite WAPO gaffe stories.

But wouldn't Dean's wording be a typo and not a gaffe?

[highplainsdem]

3. Depends. More likely a gaffe that's typed, as opposed to a typo. AS I mentioned in the

thread I posted about a Psychology Today article on slip-ups, I often start out typing the word I want and end up finishing it as a similar word, often one I type more often. That isn't a pure typo, which would just be hitting the wrong keys.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=234236

[pamela]

4. I see his little gaffes as an opportunity.

Magat: "Joe Biden said white people instead of rich people..."

Me: "Oh no! That's so much worse than fucking a porn star while your wife is still nursing your newborn baby, or mocking a disabled man, or thinking you can grab women by the pussy because you're famous or accepting a hostile foreign power's help with your election or sending "love letters" to a brutal Communist dictator or... "

[Control-Z]

14. Thank you.

Exactly. I'm so tried of it.

[yardwork]

18. Or giving a grinning thumbs up at the site of a massacre

and putting babies in cages and deporting people for no reason and on and on and on....

But by all means, let's us so-called "smart people" wring our hands over our candidates' gaffes and piss away another election just because.

Sometimes I feel like the country is doomed.

[MustLoveBeagles]

5. John Dean is right

Joe Biden simply misspoke. Big effing deal.

Everyone does this. EVERYONE. I don't care who you are. Back in 97 I was at my future FIL's farm petting one of his goats. I, for the life of me, couldn't remember what they were called and what came out of my mouth? Donkey! My husband STILL teases me about it loves to tell other people about it.

[Green Line]

6. Everyone I know including me

is guilty of gaffes. The MSM is going out of their way to beat up Joe, I stopped watching MSNBC because they were attacking him constantly.

[MustLoveBeagles]

22. I was guilty of this in another thread just today

Read my posts and the responses: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=234518

No one is immune to this.

[Lordquinton]

38. Everyone I know, including me

is not running for president.

[Hekate]

7. KnR

[FloridaBlues]

8. Have to agree with Dean. It's like every word is scrutinized

by pundits and opponents of Biden.
Worry about the bigger issues of life.

[MustLoveBeagles]

9. +1

[calimary]

11. Yep. We've got MUCH bigger fish to fry.

ESPECIALLY after the Epstein news this morning.

ESPECIALLY.

[yaesu]

10. The corporate networks are waiting for Biden's Dean scream moment

we know it's trivial but they will weaponize it against him or any front runner, talk about it 24/7, that is what they do.

[not fooled]

12. Yes!

This is nutzo. red don's incoherent speech clearly reveals he's insane, and yet many in the media attack Biden over minor verbal slip ups?????

Here we go....media greasing the skids again for red don.

[pangaia]

13. " I've seen several TV news hosts make similar mistakes in the past few days...."

Most media hosts make a mistake every time they open their mouth...

[Skya Rhen]

20. One slip-up was when CNN's Alisyn Camerota referred to Eric Garner's wife as his mother, last week,

in a live interview. His wife corrected Alisyn and said that he was her husband...

[pamela]

35. Andrea Mitchell

She can barely get a sentence out anymore without fucking up at least one word.

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. The man is not wrong.

[yardwork]

16. Of course! This is lunacy.

I loathe the media. They think this is some kind of game. They have no soul.

[lame54]

17. I didn't realize Biden won the nomination

[BannonsLiver]

25. Where does it say he is the nominee?

[MustLoveBeagles]

27. No where. The previous poster is mistaken

John Dean was just comparing how the media treats Democratic front runners as opposed to trump.

[lame54]

30. Most replies on this post...

Are pointing out that it's unfair to point out his gaffes when Trump's are much worse

But Biden is not running against Trump
He is running against a dozen + dem candidates

His gaffes matter
And when those dems gaffe it will be pointed out as well

[BannonsLiver]

32. Ah so it's something you inferred

Got it.

[lame54]

33. I don't think you do

[LanternWaste]

49. And again, a biased inference lacking any evidence to support it. Simply a series of allegations.

But I'm sure pretending others are stating Biden has won the nomination is not a gaffe; as gaffes are accidental while your charge, lacking truth or evidence, is purposeful.

[Cha]

34. That's because it's only August 10, 2019! Hello!

[mudstump]

19. Of course the media will hold democrats to a higher standard.

I think a democrat could come out and take a dump behind the podium and still impart more information than shit stains for brains in the White House.

[FakeNoose]

21. Thank you John Dean

This is the voice of reason, and I hope those "pundits" are listening.

When do these same pundits talk about the gaffes that Chump makes - hundreds per day? When do they point out the lies Chump tells? Although they are starting to now, even Brian Williams is calling them lies. But it's happening about 3 years too late.

[oasis]

23. Go get 'em John Dean.

[MustLoveBeagles]

26. It was John Dean not Howard Dean

It was John Dean not Howard Dean but I agree with spirit of your post.

[oasis]

28. Thanks, making the change.

[MustLoveBeagles]

29. Your welcome

It's no big deal. Everyone makes mistakes.

[oasis]

31. In a way, my "gaffe" underscores what John Dean was talking about.

[MustLoveBeagles]

36. +1

Yes. Biden misspoke and quickly corrected his error. It happens. It's okay to discuss it, but let's not make a bigger deal of it than it actually is. Let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[Martin Eden]

24. Different set of rules

A couple of small gaffes for Biden is cause for major concern, while Trump says or does stuff twenty times a day that would be a deal breaker for any Democratic candidate.

[cwydro]

37. Rec.

[Tarheel_Dem]

39. Biden will be the nominee, and the folks focusing on the "gaffes" have their own agenda.

If they want to continue to do that, we know they're not allies, and are only weakening the nominee for the GE.

[highplainsdem]

40. +1,000,000

[flamingdem]

41. This is a B.F.D. - we have an excellent candidate and the media

is set on making this a horse race by trashing him at every opportunity

[BootinUp]

42. Democrats... don't screw the pooch. Nt

[Scurrilous]

43. K&R

[Gothmog]

44. Opinion: There are more important things to worry about than Biden's gaffes

Link to tweet

My response to both was the same, as it was when I was asked about the Biden issue on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” There is a racist sitting in the Oval Office implementing a white supremacist policy agenda. So, you focus on Biden’s mouth marbles, and I’ll keep my eyes on the prize. The prize being the eviction of Trump from the White House.

As Waldman also wrote, Trump “is waging a reelection campaign based on racism and fear,” not to mention being “the most prolific liar in American political history (he just passed 12,000 false or misleading claims).” And what makes the focus on Biden’s mouth extra aggravating is how it wipes our memories of the moronic things said by this president, as my follower @absolut_irish was so kind to remind Biden’s critics.

Link to tweet

Some of these are funny. Some are worthy of a cocked eyebrow. But they are not nearly as consequential as the racist and white supremacist beliefs parroted by Trump and the right-wing echo chamber that found their way into the manifesto of the suspect in the El Paso mass shooting, who told police his target was "Mexicans.” The atmosphere of menace and danger is now indisputable. Your time would be better spent worrying about the shredding of our values, ideals and the rule of law than the flubs of a particular candidate who would put an end to this shameful chapter.

[Hortensis]

45. The press got a similar group-think meme going about Pres. Ford

that was really bad.

Ford was naturally athletic and had been on championship football teams in college, as well as Phi Beta Kappa and law school at Yale, but somehow they got a clumsy, bumbling dullard thing going; and missteps and stumbles that wouldn't be reported about other presidents at all were yucked-up national news for him.

It was very obvious and disgusting. You'd turn on the evening news, and there'd be film and commentary about his snagging his toe on a step. As for the discussion shows! They were shameless, and to the best of my memory they never cleaned up their act.

[Gothmog]

46. What about trump's gaffes?

Biden's so-called gaffes will not be an issue in the general election https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/democrats-battle-each-other-trump-s-greatest-ally-time-n1042191#anchor-Whatabouthisgaffes

But if Biden’s gaffes were substantial news, why wasn’t there the same level of discussion on what President Trump said yesterday in Pennsylvania?

“That’s a lot of people back there for a — like an 11 o’clock speech. That’s a lot of people. (Laughter.) That’s a lot.” (In fact, the speech was after 2:00 pm ET.)

“This Shell petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania — I did very well here. We did very well. How many points did we win by? Does anybody know? I'll tell you. Isn't it, I think, 28 points?
That's a lot.” (Trump won Beaver County by 19 points in 2016.)

“I got sued on a thing called ‘emoluments.’ Emoluments. You ever hear the word? Nobody ever heard of it before. They went back. Now, nobody looks at Obama getting $60 million for a book.” (Obama signed his book deal in 2017, after leaving office.)

Trump’s two and a half years in office definitely have changed the political and media world.

Shouldn’t they also change how we cover gaffes and misstatements?

[NYMinute]

47. K&R nt

[Princetonian]

48. John Dean speaks truth to power.

[Gothmog]

50. "Voters just don't care... they think that he's an honorable man..."

Link to tweet

[Cha]

53. THanks, Goth!

[still_one]

51. Absolutely right

[BlueMississippi]

52. K&R nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

54. But John Dean's not a hip, woke millenial, so his opinions don't count.

[Gothmog]

55. These alleged gaffes are eye-rolling examples of the absurdity of the press or the woke left

Link to tweet

To many Biden supporters, who polls consistently show are older, more working class, and more culturally conservative, these alleged gaffes are eye-rolling examples of the absurdity of the press or the woke left. They think the young activist in eastern Iowa should toughen up, that the throwaway line to the 13-year-old is endearing, and that Biden’s lack of precision when he speaks, about scooters or so many other things, is a sign of his authenticity. And they grouse that Biden is held to a standard President Donald Trump is not.

How Democrats see such episodes is at the heart of the Democratic primary. One side views these sorts of typical Biden campaign-trail moments as evidence of a politician well past his prime — casually sexist in a way that might have gone unremarked in, say, 1973 when he first joined the Senate. His supporters see them as good examples of why he’s the lovable Democrat best-suited to beat Trump. What is clear is that the critics, who are louder and more visible online and on cable TV, have had absolutely no impact on changing Biden’s status as the steady front-runner in the race.

This woke-working class divide is at the heart of the most salient fact about the Democratic primaries: Nothing has damaged Biden. Biden entered the race with about 30 percent support nationally and he has that same 30 percent today.