Former Buttigieg staffers keep suggesting Joe Biden hold a Fortnite takeover

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 11 May 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden is getting dangerously close to accepting the Democratic nomination on Zoom — but not if former staffers for Pete Buttigieg have anything to say about it.

Stefan Smith, who headed online engagement for Buttigieg's campaign, told Yahoo News late last week he'd like to see the 77-year-old Biden get way too online for comfort. This year's Democratic convention could "hop from digital events on Instagram Live to Facebook to Twitch to Twitter," Smith said. And for the DNC's keynote event, Biden could turn to Fortnite, just like rapper Travis Scott did for his incredibly popular virtual concert last month. "Give America a giant avatar of President Obama introducing another avatar of Joe Biden while they stand amidst a digital rendering of America through the ages," Smith suggested. "Give America Joe Biden accepting his nomination from a national monument like the Grand Canyon while the sun sets behind him."

Lis Smith, Buttigieg's communications director who has recently started proposing Biden get online, brought up the idea again in a conversation with Politico on Monday. "Travis Scott's takeover of Fortnite … if we could do that with Joe Biden," she said before conceding "that might be a little ambitious." If Biden's track record of glitchy virtual town halls and events continues, she's probably right.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.