'Why am I stopping?': Biden obsesses about the clock
February 25, 2020
The candidates at Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate screamed over each other and shot up their hands to get speaking rights on the Charleston debate stage. At one point, Bernie Sanders turned his head from left to right as the other candidates fought to direct their words at the Vermont senator.
CBS News brought in three more moderators after the first commercial break at the South Carolina debate, and throughout, they reminded candidates to respect the debate rules. Joe Biden was quick to point at that they were being broken.
He wasn’t the most aggressive one on stage, but his obsession with his time to answer each question was evident. In past debates, it’s been typical to hear the former vice president trail off on his thoughts, conceding to the clock.
But tonight, he made a point to push his time and call out the moderators and other candidates for cutting his minutes short.
“I guess the only way to do this is jump in and speak as twice as long as you should,” Biden said as other candidates fought to speak.
The former vice president then bubbled over when the moderators told him he was out of time.
“I’m not out of time. You spoke over time, and I’m going to talk,” Biden said before attacking Tom Steyer on his prison investments.
Biden wasn’t the only one being cut off. Pete Buttigieg faced an abrupt cut off from moderators, and Steyer also complained about time, pushing back to say he had time left.
But Biden was the candidate clearly fixated on the time, getting more agitated every time he got a chance to speak.
“I know you cut me off all the time, but I’m not going to be quiet anymore, OK?” Biden said before going silent.
Before the second commercial break, Biden was drowned out by the music.
And the former vice president made sure to hammer in his point one more time when Gayle King said, “Mr. vice president, we’re going to get to you today.”
“You keep promising, but you haven’t done it yet," Biden said.
Biden still didn't let it go as the debate entered its final minutes. As he delved into his passionate response about how he would deal with North Korea, he stopped mid-sentence as moderators prepared to wrap him up.
"Why am I stopping? No one else stops," Biden said, drawing laughs from the crowd.
"It's my Catholic school training."
Source: https://www.politico.com/
