The disastrous radio interview in which Joe Biden called himself a black woman was scripted and the president knew exactly what questions he would be asked.
Philadelphia radio station WURD had eight questions for the 81-year-old president. Reporter Andrea Lawful-Sanders says she ended up asking four questions, but Biden kept getting confused with his answers.
The president sparked a flurry of headlines after saying she was a Black woman, apparently while trying to praise his appointment of Kamala Harris as vice president.
Though his gaffe has been defended as a slip of the tongue, critics, including many within his own party, say Biden needs to brush it up after his disastrous debate performance.
Wisconsin WMCS was also sent a list of questions prior to the debate.
Both hosts said the questions were suggestions that they were not required to use and that they never felt pressured to do so.
Biden’s campaign sent questions to two radio hosts ahead of interviews with the president after their disastrous debate
They ended up using most of them, they said, because the list covered topical issues like their debate performance and important campaign issues.
Topics covered in the interviews included Joe Biden’s accomplishments, what is at stake in the election, how the campaign was going in the two states and what he would say to voters who were thinking about not voting.
“They sent me the questions to approve. I approved them,” Sanders told CNN on Saturday of his interview with Biden on Wednesday.
Sanders said the campaign, not the White House, sent her eight questions and she approved four of them for her platform.
Even though he knew in advance some of the possible questions, Biden gave an odd answer to one about his accomplishments.
“I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first black woman, to serve under a black president,” she told Sanders.
Andrea Lawful-Sanders of WURD in Philadelphia was sent the talking points this week ahead of her interview on Thursday.
Ingram said he was sent five questions and asked four of them.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to,” she told ABC.
“To think that I was going to have the opportunity to ask the President of the United States some questions, I think, is a little bit more than anyone should expect.”
Ingram told CNN that most of his listeners said they did not want the president to step aside and let another Democrat challenge Donald Trump.
“This morning, for two hours, my phone lines were completely jammed while we were having the conversation and the debate about whether this is something that should happen or not,” he said.
“And I can tell you that the majority of the audience thought that we should leave it as is and it is a huge mistake for the Democratic Party to try to force this on them and on Joe Biden.”
Earl Ingram, a WMCS anchor in the swing state of Wisconsin, said he was sent five questions and asked four of them.
The Biden campaign said it was not uncommon for interviewees to share questions they would prefer to answer before interviews.
“These questions were relevant to the news of the day: the president was asked about his performance in the debate, as well as what he had brought to black Americans,” he said.
‘We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they believe will best inform their listeners.
‘Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.’
Polls since the debate show Trump widening his lead over Biden: The multi-aggregator average gives him a 2 to 3.3 percent lead in head-to-head matchups, and a 2.5 to 4.9 percent lead when third-party candidates are included.
Biden arrives at St Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church to attend Mass in Wilmington, Delaware
Even as some Democratic lawmakers have openly called for Biden to step aside, and many more have done so privately, the most obvious candidates to replace him appear unwilling.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, within minutes of each other, pledged their support for Biden as the nominee earlier this week.
None of Biden’s potential replacements are polling better against Trump than the president, except for Michelle Obama, who leads him by double digits.