All the Dumb Pundits and Reporters Who Said Biden Was Definitely Running for President
Vice President Joe Biden announced in a speech in the White House’s Rose Garden today that he is not running for president. This is a real bummer for the American public, which deserves, if nothing else, more election entertainment. It’s an even bigger bummer for all the pundits and political journalists who confidently reported—with sources and everything—that Biden was going to run.
Bill Kristol, the neoconservative scion with a long and well-documented history of making incorrect predictions about elections (among other things), was chief among those trumpeting wrong intel that Biden was mounting a campaign to rival Hillary Clinton’s.
I'm told by Democrat I trust that Biden "almost certain" to run, will announce this week in time to speak at the Iowa J-J dinner Sat night.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 18, 2015
Biden confirms to Obama at lunch today he's running, announces at U Delaware tomorrow. You can feel the Joementum!
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 20, 2015
But plenty of other pundits and reporters—ones generally taken more seriously than Kristol—had “sources” who told them the same. Like Fox News’ Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry:
Three sources close to @VP telling me he's expected to announce he is running but the sources are all urging caution on 48-hr timeline
— Ed Henry (@edhenry) October 19, 2015
And the Rubin Report’s Dave Rubin:
Sources say Biden will run for president. Hillary won't be moving from this position all day. pic.twitter.com/N0M9Lx0ZoM
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) October 19, 2015
And the National Post’s Diane Francis.
#Biden definitely running, good source, amid concern about Clinton skeletons #hillary #uspoli
— Diane Francis (@dianefrancis1) October 2, 2015
Even those within Congress had sources. Rep. Brendan Boyle, of Philly, announced this confidently on Monday:
I have a very good source close to Joe that tells me VP Biden will run for Prez
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) October 19, 2015
Other pundits just had a good feeling that Biden was going to run, like the Washington Post’s Chris Cilliza:
Holy cow does it sound like Joe Biden is running for president. https://t.co/eOQvSyNCVB pic.twitter.com/Z2QU7qt06a
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) October 20, 2015
And Fox News analyst Monica Crowley.
As I have been saying... He's running. RT "Sources: Joe Biden Has Wife's Support for WH Bid" http://t.co/2nYvmWPXRw
— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) September 20, 2015
Columnist Charles Krauthammer visited Fox News on Monday to predict that Biden would run as an “insurance policy” in case Clinton was indicted by the FBI, or something.
New York’s Gabriel Sherman dedicated his entire column Friday to the incorrect notion that Joe Biden was running. “Joe Biden is running for president—a fact that has been obvious, and true, for weeks,” he wrote.
My new column: Joe Biden is running for President http://t.co/DBIqe9TpoU
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) October 16, 2015
Gay rights activist Chely Wright predicted just this morning that Biden would run, but regret it:
Prediction: @VP Joe Biden will run. He'll have an initial bump, then a slow decline. He will get 19% in the primary. He'll regret running
— Chely Wright (@chelywright) October 21, 2015
And CNN’s Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash reported Monday that Biden was staffing up his campaign.
A source familiar with the process tells me Biden associates are setting up interviews for potential campaign staff positions
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) October 19, 2015
Even Vox’s Ezra Klein tentatively suggested Biden was in.
I think this is how Biden will run against Clinton: https://t.co/E6zwxDHJn1
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) October 19, 2015
The Alex Jones show, naturally, reported Biden was running as some kind of Obama conspiracy.
But one source, Vice President Joe Biden, announced today that he is, actually, not running for president.
Gabriel Sherman, Ed Henry, Monica Crowley—respected professionals at the very top of their chosen field—were all on the same side as Alex Jones, and all turned out to be just as correct.