Joe Biden's campaign dubiously claims The West Wing's Toby Ziegler would have backed him

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Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign has a new message from the actor who played Toby Ziegler on The West Wing. Ziegler, the fictional communications director to President Josiah Bartlet, would presumably have known how to spell his boss' name — not Bartlett — but that isn't the only thing fishy about actor Richard Schiff's claim that Ziegler would have backed Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary.

In Aaron Sorkin's fantasy presidency, Ziegler backed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) in the primary when he was a heavy underdog to the establishment frontrunner, Sen. John Hoynes (D-Texas). Would Ziegler really back Biden? There was skepticism among West Wing fans.

It also wasn't clear that Biden should welcome the fictional character's endorsement. Ziegler had a 100 percent failure rate before Bartlet's campaign, and Bartlet eventually fired him for leaking classified information. The consensus is that Ziegler would be a supporter of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), or possibly South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg — who fellow West Wing alumnus Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) likes.

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But Schiff had his reasons, as he explained in a longer email.

Still, it's hard to picture Biden giving one of Sorkin's trademark soaring speeches, while you can imagine West Wing music under this speech from Warren, retweeted by Whitford.

On the other hand, Biden and President Bartlet are both Catholic. So there's that.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.