Election 2020 live updates: ‘Are you ready?’ Biden says of V.P. search
August 9, 2020 at 10:51 AM EDT
Biden campaign braces for sexist attacks on his vice presidential pick
Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Joe Biden’s campaign manager, warned on a recent all-staff call that when his vice presidential pick is announced, sexism will motivate the ugliest attacks against the running mate — no matter who she is.
O’Malley Dillon delivered this directive: Everyone on the campaign will be enlisted to defend the pick.
The all-hands-on-deck approach within the Biden campaign, described by someone on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, is being separately bolstered by some of the country’s leading women’s groups, including NARAL Pro-Choice America, Emily’s List, She the People and UltraViolet, which have been strategizing for months about how to best defend Biden’s vice presidential pick from sexist and racist insults.
Even before the nominee is named, some being considered by Biden are beginning to face the same sorts of attacks, playing on negative stereotypes, that the campaign and independent groups have vowed to confront.
By Annie Linskey and Isaac Stanley-Becker
