On a summer Sunday, Biden withdrew with a text statement. News outlets struggled for visuals

By James On Jul 21, 2024

In a news world that is largely visual in nature, a momentous week of politics was transformed in the blink of an eye on Sunday by something almost old-fashioned: a printed statement.

President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not run for a second term was posted to his social media feed at 1:46 p.m. Eastern Time, followed 33 minutes later by an endorsement of his vice president, Kamala Harris. Still recovering from COVID, the president did not appear on camera, meaning little to no footage for news organizations.

There was also virtually no warning, leading to initial concerns that the president’s X feed had been hacked. The Associated Press filed a “flash” alert at 1:54 a.m. Eastern. Television networks hacked into programming between 1:50 a.m. (Fox News Channel) and 2:04 a.m. (ABC).

It was, the Associated Press wrote, “a late-season thunderclap unlike anything seen in American history.” CBS News analyst Ashley Etienne called it “an incredible day in American history.”

After a week of endlessly replayed and analyzed video of former President Donald Trump being gunned down at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, and the carefully choreographed four-day Republican National Convention television broadcast that followed, this was a dramatic news story that lacked the visual element in almost every way.

Cable news programs, especially when covering live events or breaking news, rely on video of a scene and its aftermath to provide the vital connecting thread between talking heads and anchor updates. With no video on Sunday other than “b-roll” or old footage of Biden, news outlets had to turn elsewhere.

But they had to struggle to find people to talk about it at all. CBS White House correspondent Ed Keefe sounded breathless when reached on the phone. Because it was a summer Sunday afternoon, the first string of TV news wasn’t immediately available, giving ABC’s Rachel Scott, CBS’s Kristine Johnson and NBC’s Hallie Jackson the chance to do the first reports.

As the news rolled in, others interrupted their weekends to rush to the office — Wolf Blitzer on CNN, John Roberts on Fox News Channel, Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. ABC and CBS devoted more time to the story than NBC, which switched to NASCAR coverage after half an hour.

Biden’s former White House press secretary Jen Psaki was in a studio after her Sunday show to deliver the news about her former boss.

The networks quickly switched to talking about a showdown between Harris and Trump in the general election, even before Harris announced — again via a printed statement — about two hours after Biden’s endorsement that she would run.

“Look how quickly politics changes,” ABC’s Terry Moran said by phone. “Joseph Biden, after 50 years in politics where he reached the highest level, is now yesterday’s news.”

The day was reminiscent of March 31, 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson shocked the country at the end of a 40-minute televised address to the nation by saying, “I will not seek and will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

That was a complete surprise, compared to the seemingly endless debate that has consumed the political world over the past three weeks over whether the 81-year-old Biden could effectively remain a candidate after his disastrous performance in a debate against Trump on June 27.

But Biden had repeatedly and emphatically maintained that he would stay in the race, and Sunday morning’s political talk shows featured surrogates who continued that line. “He’s going to do what the American people want him to do, and that’s defeat Donald Trump,” Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Biden campaign, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Several reporters spoke of how even Biden’s White House and campaign staff were surprised by the announcement. Biden is expected to address the nation later in the week.

Political TV fanatics were almost giddy at the prospect of the news that would be produced in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off on August 19 in Chicago.

“This is going to be a truly amazing, historic sprint to the finish,” said CBS News White House correspondent Mary Bruce.

Fox News commentator Dana Perino said: “Politics over the next four weeks is going to be absolutely insane.”

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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him on http://twitter.com/dbauder.