Getty Joe Biden.
Joe Biden’s campaign is denying rumors that he will wear an earpiece during the first Democratic Debate, which takes place on September 29.
Conservatives raised questions about a possible earpiece on Twitter. Charlie Kirk wrote, “If Joe Biden isn’t hiding anything, why won’t he consent to a third party checking for an earpiece before tonight’s debate?”
“Joe Biden’s handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves and declined,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said in a statement on Tuesday, September 29. The Biden campaign denied that.
Madeleine Rivera of Fox News reported that Biden’s Deputy Campaign Manager told reporters in a debate preview call: “It is completely absurd. Of course, he is not wearing an earpiece, and we never asked for breaks.” However, the Detroit News noted, “The Biden campaign did not directly address whether it had gone back on an agreement around the ear inspection.”
Ben Collins, a reporter with NBC News, wrote that the “Biden earpiece conspiracy theory (which originated in a tweet from a single anonymous source to a NYPost reporter, and was instantly denied by the campaign) is everywhere on Facebook. Absolutely everywhere.” He shared these screenshots:
The Biden earpiece conspiracy theory (which originated in a tweet from a single anonymous source to a NYPost reporter, and was instantly denied by the campaign) is everywhere on Facebook. Absolutely everywhere.
Collins wrote: “The Biden campaign has denied it ever agreed to such an inspection, and there is no evidence that Biden has ever used such a device during a debate.”
It’s debate night, so I’ve got my earpiece and performance enhancers ready.
Here’s what you need to know:
Biden Was Previously Accused of Wearing an Earpiece During a Town Hall
Meme writers on Facebook accused Biden of wearing an earpiece during a 2020 town hall too. “Joe’s flesh colored earpiece was spotted at his last townhall. Staffers can give him answers at the presidential debates,” wrote one.
USA Today declared, “There’s no truth to the allegations,” saying that the Biden campaign “also denied claims that they refused to consent to an inspection for an earpiece ahead of the debate.”
USA Today scrutinized video of the town hall and reported that it didn’t appear in those videos that Biden was wearing an ear piece.
Matt Viser, a political reporter for The Washington Post, wrote, “Biden campaigns’s @kbeds, responding to Trump claims that Biden won’t agree to an ear inspection and wants breaks ever 30 minutes: ‘Of course he’s not wearing an earpiece and we never asked for breaks.'”
Other Democratic Candidates Were Falsely Accused of Wearing Earpieces in Debates
According to the New York Times, ear piece debate conspiracy theories are nothing new; in fact talk show host Rush Limbaugh once leveled the charge at Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. The Times reported that a debate show rep said “all guests wear earpieces in order to hear the audio tracks of news clips” but there was no evidence that Gore was fed answers.
Other debate controversy swirled around COVID-19, with Biden’s campaign accusing the Trump campaign of asking the debate moderator not to mention the number of COVID-19 deaths and the Trump campaign denying it. “This is a lie and it never happened. This is the height of playing politics with a public health crisis. Biden is trying to distract from the facts that he won’t submit to an inspection for earpieces, won’t take a drug test, and needs multiple breaks during the 90-minute debate,” Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said, according to The Washington Times.
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