Atlantic Reporter Does Not Deny Coordinating Question with Joe Biden Campaign

Edward-Isaac Dovere, a reporter for The Atlantic, did not deny coordinating a question about Trump’s “soul” with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, which selected him to ask the first question during a rare press availability on Friday.

The Atlantic is the publication that published a story Thursday evening claiming that President Donald Trump had referred to Americans who died in the First World War as “losers” and “suckers.” The story was based on four anonymous sources. It has since been rejected or refuted by nearly a dozen on-the-record sources, including some Trump critics, like John Bolton.

Biden led a press conference on the economy by commenting angrily on the story, “if these statements [by Trump] are true.”

After his remarks, Biden turned to his staff, who selected Dovere to ask the first question. He asked: “When you hear these remarks — ‘suckers,’ ‘losers,’ recoiling from amputees — what does it tell you about president Trump’s soul, and the life he leads?”

Biden took the question as a cue to launch another attack on the president.

Dovere faced criticism from the Trump campaign, and defended himself on Twitter:

Thanks for watching. https://t.co/ecVkqViixz

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) September 4, 2020

Who would have ever guessed that the Trump campaign’s response would’ve be to attack the press? https://t.co/X38aZSXFj2

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) September 4, 2020

The following exchange with this reporter then ensued:

You outed yourself as a tool. https://t.co/9ghEUIAxO9

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) September 4, 2020

Tell the truth: did you coordinate that question with the @JoeBiden campaign? Or did you just decide to humiliate yourself on your own? https://t.co/VMayMmFWOy

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) September 4, 2020

When asked, Edward-@IsaacDovere did not deny coordinating his question with the @JoeBiden campaign. https://t.co/7fDCHZTY26

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) September 4, 2020

.@IsaacDovere Trying again one more time. Mutual snark aside, this is a serious question: did you coordinate your question about Trump's "soul" with the @JoeBiden campaign? https://t.co/7fDCHZTY26

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) September 4, 2020

As of this writing, Dovere has not responded.

Most of the other questions at the Biden press conference were similarly helpful to the candidate.

Many of the questions for Joe Biden after his remarks today consisted of reporters asking Biden to elaborate on how bad Trump is. A list (not exact quotes): pic.twitter.com/0ixZlVcItz

— Byron York (@ByronYork) September 4, 2020

There were no questions about Biden’s proposed economic policies — which, ostensibly, was the topic of the press conference.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.