During an interview on the “Smartless” podcast, on which President Joe Biden appeared alongside President Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton, President Biden claimed that it has been hard to get his message out and communicate with voters because of “disinformation.” That comment came as an explanation for why he has campaigned alongside former Presidents Obama and Clinton.
That interview with three presidents, which was hosted by three actors, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes. It was recorded in March, but then not released until Monday, April 29. During it, Biden tried to address questions about his campaign against former President Donald Trump, including why Obama and Clinton were helping him out.
When asked why it was necessary to have even “half a president” campaigning against Trump, much less three, Biden blamed “disinformation” on why it is hard for his Administration to communicate about its supposed achievements. He said, “Well, a lot has changed. A lot has changed in how you communicate. A lot has changed in information, and so much disinformation out there. You know, it’s really – and it’s hard to communicate even today when you do accomplish some improbable things.”
Then, when asked about how he plans on getting his message out, Biden said, “Just keep talking about it. You have to connect with people as to how they’re being affected, why it’s happening. And, you know, one of the things that really startles me is I’m optimistic. I’m genuinely optimistic.”
Continuing, President Biden added that he is “starting to break through” to voters, saying, “And starting to break through. There’s so much we have opportunities to get done in ways that these guys [Obama and Clinton] set up and we’re now going to be able to close down. For example, when we got elected, we were told we couldn’t get anything done. We couldn’t get anything passed.”
Former President Obama, chiming in, also blamed social media for information problems, saying, “Part of what happened is that whole ecosystem moved onto social media. And once it’s on social media and it’s on an algorithm, and everybody’s just getting their news selected essentially to suit their biases, penetrating that is real tough. It is very hard.”
That focus on figuring out how to communicate is somewhat similar to what Obama said when appearing alongside Biden for another campaign event in late March, one at which Clinton also appeared. The, Obama said, “But the thing that not only Joe has to communicate, we who support Joe have to communicate, is, at the end of the day, who do you think is actually going to look out for you? Who do you think is going to fight on your behalf? Who’s gone through tough financial times? Who has actually experienced the worry of a child getting sick and — and you trying to figure out, you know, how you’re going to pay for it?”
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