After former Vice President Joe Biden all but confirmed he was planning to announce a 2020 run for president during a pair of public engagements on Tuesday, the liberal media were eager to hype the news. This included NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, who quipped: “Tonight, former Vice President Joe Biden is coming out swinging, taking on President Trump in a pair of appearances that felt, at times, like campaign rallies without the campaign part.”
Biden also got a warm reception on ABC’s World News Tonight where anchor David Muir sensationally announced: “Next, to the race for 2020 tonight, Vice President Joe Biden in front of a crowd today, the firefighters association. They were chanting "Run, Joe, run." And it was what the former Vice President then said that immediately made news. Will he take on President Trump?”
“Tonight, the clearest signs yet that Joe Biden is on the cusp of running for president,” ABC congressional correspondent Mary Bruce added. Bruce usually sprints to share angry crowds jeering and screeching at Republicans, but on Tuesday she was all about the cheers for Uncle Joe:
CROWD: Run, Joe, run! Run, Joe, run!
JOE BIDEN: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
BRUCE: Speaking to the very supportive firefighters association, the former Vice President answering those cheers.
BIDEN: Save it a little longer. I may need it in a few weeks. Be careful what you wish for.
BRUCE: Biden is making it clear he's ready to take on Trump.
As evidence of his impending run, Bruce pointed to those staying away from the field. “Another sign he's getting in, those who are staying out, like Senator Sherrod Brown and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Biden says he's close to making a decision. He wanted to make sure his family's onboard. And they are,” she boasted.
For NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent Kristen Welker also touted the crowd he was speaking to. “With the crowd urging him on, the former Vice President dropping his strongest hints yet about a presidential run,” she said.
“If the former Vice President gets into the race, polls suggest he would instantly become a Democratic front-runner in an already crowded field,” Welker added before hyping a “Trump/Biden showdown” by playing a soundbite of Biden bragging about being able to physically assaulting Trump behind a gym.
After noting how Biden admitted to being a “gaffe machine”, Welker wondered if it's “Biden time?”
If Biden wasn’t enough, ABC ended the segment by fawning for former Texas Congressman and failed Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, who was visiting Iowa to aid a state Senate candidate. “Now, as for 2020, O’Rourke says he and his wife have made a decision, and they're, in fact, already running ads on Facebook teasing an upcoming announcement, saying he's ready to share his plans,” Bruce crowed.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
March 12, 2019
6:42:02 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: Next, to the race for 2020 tonight, Vice President Joe Biden in front of a crowd today, the firefighters association. They were chanting "Run, Joe, run." And it was what the former Vice President then said that immediately made news. Will he take on President Trump? Here's ABC's Mary Bruce tonight.
[Cuts to video]
MARY BRUCE: Tonight, the clearest signs yet that Joe Biden is on the cusp of running for president.
CROWD: Run, Joe, run! Run, Joe, run!
JOE BIDEN: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
BRUCE: Speaking to the very supportive firefighters association, the former Vice President answering those cheers.
BIDEN: Save it a little longer. I may need it in a few weeks. Be careful what you wish for.
BRUCE: Biden is making it clear he's ready to take on Trump.
BIDEN: In America, everybody gets a shot. That's what the next president of the United States needs to understand, and that's what I don't think this current president understands at all.
BRUCE: Another sign he's getting in, those who are staying out, like Senator Sherrod Brown and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Biden says he's close to making a decision. He wanted to make sure his family's onboard. And they are.
JILL BIDEN: I'm grateful to be here today to say thank you.
BRUCE: While the President seems to be itching for a fight. He's called Biden "Weak, both mentally and physically." Mr. Vice president, what's the holdup, sir?
BIDEN: No holdup. The car's working.
BRUCE: A playful response but Biden's answer? An announcement is expected in the next few weeks.
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: All right, we'll see. Mary Bruce live in Washington. And Democrats wait on Joe Biden, they’re also waiting on word from Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman. He's headed to Iowa?
BRUCE: Yeah, David, it's a high profile visit to campaign for a state senate candidate. Now, as for 2020, O’Rourke says he and his wife have made a decision, and they're, in fact, already running ads on Facebook teasing an upcoming announcement, saying he's ready to share his plans. David?
MUIR: Mary Bruce, as always, thank you.
NBC Nightly News
March 12, 2019
7:10:29 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Tonight, former Vice President Joe Biden is coming out swinging, taking on President Trump in a pair of appearances that felt, at times, like campaign rallies without the campaign part. So, is he in or out? As Kristen Welker reports, Biden dropped a pretty big hint.
[Cuts to video]
KRISTEN WELKER: Tonight, is Biden on the brink?
CROWD: Run, Joe, run! Run, Joe, run!
WELKER: With the crowd urging him on, the former Vice President dropping his strongest hints yet about a presidential run.
JOE BIDEN: I appreciate the energy you showed when I got up here. Save it a little longer. I may need it in a few weeks.
WELKER: Going after President Trump at two events.
BIDEN: The guardrails we put up to prevent the abuse of power, they're under enormous stress now.
WELKER: If the former Vice President gets into the race, polls suggest he would instantly become a Democratic front-runner in an already crowded field. And it could set up a Trump/Biden showdown already playing out. Biden on candidate Trump.
BIDEN I wish we were in high school. I could take him behind the gym.
WELKER: The President taking his own shots.
DONALD TRUMP: I think he ran three times, and he never had more than 1 percent. So we call him 1 percent Joe.
WELKER: Biden recently calling himself the most qualified person to be president, but acknowledging, quote, “I am a gaffe machine.” Biden would tout his working-class appeal, but would face a new challenge, a field of younger more progressive Democrats. The question now, is it Biden time? Andrea Mitchell pressing him today.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Why wouldn't you run, Mr. Vice President?
BIDEN: I can't think of any reason.
[Cuts back to live]
WELKER: Biden declined to run in 2016 after his son's death. He says he'll make his 2020 decision in the next few weeks. Lester.
HOLT: All right, Kristen Welker, thank you.
