Campaign Press Secretary Won’t Say if Biden Uses Teleprompter for Interviews

It was a very simple question.

In an interview with Biden campaign press secretary TJ Ducklo on Thursday, Fox News reporter Bret Baier asked if the rumors were true – was Joe Biden using a teleprompter during interviews with the media?

It should have been a gimme. Ducklo should have dismissed the question out of hand, answering with a definitive and unmistakable “hell no.” Because – and let’s be really clear about this – that is the only acceptable answer to the question. Americans can tolerate politicians who read long, prepared speeches off a teleprompter, but one who can’t get through an interview without the help of one? That’s completely out of the question. If Biden is unable to answer questions without referring to prepared, scripted remarks, then we’ve got a big problem on our hands. It is up to Ducklo to put those suspicions to rest immediately.

He couldn’t do it.

“Has Joe Biden ever used a teleprompter during local interviews or to answer Q&A with supporters?” Baier asked.

Remember: The only acceptable answer is “no.”

Here’s what Ducklo said: “Bret, we are not going to engage – this is, this is straight from the Trump campaign talking points.”

“Well yeah, they’re using it,” Baier readily admitted.

“And what it does, and what it does, Bret, is it’s trying to distract the American people,” Ducklo said.

“They’re using it; they talk about it every day, can you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” Baier asked.

“They talk about it every day, Bret, because they don’t have a coherent strategy—” Ducklo continued.

“Wel,” Baier observed, “you still haven’t answered. Yes or no?”

Ducklo continued to not answer the question, finally moving onto a conspiracy theory in which he suggested that the Trump campaign is feeding questions to Fox News in an effort to force the Biden team to respond.

Well, okay, let’s say that’s true. So what? All you have to do to put this to bed is to say, “Joe Biden has never once used a teleprompter to answer questions in an interview situation.” Or, alternatively, admit that he has and come up with some sort of good explanation for why he’s doing it. We’re not sure the latter strategy would be convincing, but it might avoid lying outright to the public.

Instead, the Biden team is completely unwilling to even answer the question, which lets you know two things at once: One, Joe Biden has absolutely used a teleprompter to respond to interviews, and two, the campaign knows this would be a disastrous admission to make.

These upcoming debates could be very, very interesting.