MIAMI, Florida — Former vice preisdent Joe Biden will not visit the “spin room” after participating in the second night of the first Democratic Party presidential primary debate Thursday evening, according to a report from Buzzfeed News.
Buzzfeed’s Henry Gomez, citing “Biden campaign officials,” reported Thursday afternoon that the frontrunner will forego the traditional ritual of fielding questions from the press after the two-hour debate formally ends.
It is not clear why Biden is skipping the “spin room.” One reason could simply be strategic: he is still a prohibitive frontrunner — though others have been slowly gaining — and might feel that by mingling with other candidates he would diminish his status. Another reason could be tactical: Biden is notorious for making gaffes that become news stories for days, and he may not want to jeopardize the evening by making a mistake that dominates headlines.
There may also be a practical reason: Biden is 76 years old, the second-oldest candidate after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is 77. The debate is scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. and to end at 11:00 p.m.; the late night may take its toll.
Gomez also noted that the Biden campaign is one of the few candidates skipping protests against a migrant detention center in Homestead, Florida, where illegal alien children — most of whom arrived unaccompanied — are being housed.
Sanders visited the protest earlier on Thursday, as did former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX). Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) visited on Wednesday, leading many of the other candidates to commit to visiting. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) was actually the first to visit the protest, visiting on Monday. None were permitted to enter the privately-run facility.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.