About 20 handpicked local officials, small-business owners and reporters sat in folding chairs, each placed within a large white circle taped on the floor of a recreation center to maintain — or at least encourage — social distancing. A few attendees whispered to each other as photographers quietly chatted. You could hear the clack of typing echoing across the room. The silence was striking.
Nearly everyone wore masks. Before entering, a Biden campaign worker took our temperatures and asked if we had shown any symptoms of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
“We are going to get started in just a minute,” a staff member announced. “Today’s event has been set up to adhere to social distancing guidelines.”
Then, Mr. Biden appeared. He arrived with such little fanfare that I didn’t even notice him enter the room. There was no introduction by an organizer to pump up a crowd that wasn’t there, as is typical with campaign events. He just stood behind a lectern, pasted with the placard “Reopen Right: Safer and Stronger,” and began reading a speech off the teleprompters, assailing President Trump.
“Donald Trump’s failure to fight the coronavirus with the same focus that he uses to troll his enemies on Twitter has cost us lives and is putting hope for an economic recovery at risk,” he said. “Just like he couldn’t wish Covid away in March, just like he couldn’t tweet it away in April, he can’t ignore it away in June.”
Nearly everyone wore masks. Before entering, a Biden campaign worker took our temperatures and asked if we had shown any symptoms of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
“We are going to get started in just a minute,” a staff member announced. “Today’s event has been set up to adhere to social distancing guidelines.”
Then, Mr. Biden appeared. He arrived with such little fanfare that I didn’t even notice him enter the room. There was no introduction by an organizer to pump up a crowd that wasn’t there, as is typical with campaign events. He just stood behind a lectern, pasted with the placard “Reopen Right: Safer and Stronger,” and began reading a speech off the teleprompters, assailing President Trump.
“Donald Trump’s failure to fight the coronavirus with the same focus that he uses to troll his enemies on Twitter has cost us lives and is putting hope for an economic recovery at risk,” he said. “Just like he couldn’t wish Covid away in March, just like he couldn’t tweet it away in April, he can’t ignore it away in June.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/us/politics/joe-biden-campaign-event.html