Joan Walsh: Biden Fared Well at Morehouse. So You Didn't Hear About It. [View all]

[Nevilledog]

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/biden-harris-morehouse/

No paywall link
https://archive.li/v7Qd1

Trust me: If President Joe Biden had faced hecklers or worse when he gave the Morehouse College commencement speech on Sunday, you would know about it. It would have led every newscast and dominated headlines in every paper, another dire portent of his alleged troubles with Black voters coming in November.

Instead, Biden faced a low-key protest, he clapped for and shook hands with the valedictorian who demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, and otherwise fared well. So you probably didn’t hear about it.

I try not to cover the “Biden is treated unfairly” beat. It’s now a dog bites man story. But this was impossible to ignore. I covered many events with Vice President Kamala Harris this last week, and I heard from many reporters how on edge they were, as was the administration, about Biden’s reception at Morehouse. Some student activists had demanded that the administration rescind his invitation, and a few faculty members said they wouldn’t attend the ceremony.
So why wasn’t it a big deal when it went fine?

It’s the nature of news. We cover plane crashes, not safe plane landings. But I think Biden’s soft landing represents smart outreach to the Black community, or communities, that paid off. And that’s news.

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