Joe Biden is a podcaster now.
The former vice president and presidential candidate has launched a new podcast, Here's the Deal, as part of a virtual campaign from his basement amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In the first episode, he interviews Ron Klain, his former chief of staff and former Ebola czar.
"Why am I doing this?" Biden says at the start of the first episode. "Well, first, so we can keep talking with each other. We can't hold rallies anymore, but we're not gathering in large public spaces. We're living in a new normal."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden has recently started broadcasting from a home studio set up in his basement in Delaware, where he's conducted television interviews and held virtual press conferences. His communications director, Kate Bedingfield, told Politico last week that "we're thinking through what does a virtual campaign look like" amid the pandemic and "we're experimenting with a lot of different formats." This comes after an early virtual town hall from the campaign suffered from many technical issues.
In addition to interviewing Klain and discussing his plan for responding to the coronavirus crisis, Biden in the first episode of his podcast takes some questions, in response to one describing the precautions he's taking amid the pandemic including having anyone who comes into his house wear gloves and a mask. As he wraps up, Biden assures listeners that "we're going to beat this" and recommends that "if you have any friends or relatives or anybody who is shut in, pick up the phone and call them. Tell them you're thinking of them. See what they need."
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also expected to soon launch a podcast, reportedly inspired by Howard Stern.
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
