The New York Times report on Joe Biden’s insistence that some black voters “ain’t black” is a truly remarkable piece of non-journalism. The trouble to which Astead W. Herndon and his editors went to avoid looking at the story head-on is remarkable if only from a purely compositional point of view.
The bombshell line is mentioned in the lead and then followed by . . . paragraphs of tax-policy details.
The story notes that social media exploded in condemnation of Biden’s remarks, but the only social-media post quoted is from a Biden aide, Symone D. Sanders.
There’s the inevitable “Republicans pounce!” angle (“conservatives jumping on Mr. Biden, 77, for acting as the arbiter of blackness”) and the “But, Trump!” angle, too.
It would be generous to call this “solicitous.”