"Go to Joe 30330": Biden's closing statement leaves people scratching their heads
At the end of last night's Democratic presidential debate, most candidates told voters to visit their websites. Joe Biden told people to go somewhere else: Joe 30330.
That is not a place, nor is it a full website name. So, some viewers were left guessing what the former vice president meant. Others were able to decode the odd numerical message: Biden seemed to have misspoken, and meant to tell viewers to text 30330.
Perhaps listening to all the other candidates say "go to" their websites tripped Biden up. When it was his turn to deliver his closing statement, he parroted the "go to" and botched his message.
When you do text that number, you get a standard campaign fundraising message from "Team Joe."
"Now, we need to keep up the momentum from the debate," the reply text reads. "Can you chip in $3 in the next 03 hours and 30 minutes to elect Joe Biden and defeat Donald Trump?
$3 in 3 hours and 30 minutes — 30330. Biden's strange request is making sense now.
Biden later acknowledged his mistake. In fact, on Thursday he told CBS News' Ed O'Keefe it was the one thing from the debate he would do over.
"Instead of saying 'Joe' I would've said 'text,'" Biden said. "I was so focused on making the case for Joe I said 'Joe' when I gave the number. It was text, so you know, I would have changed that. But you guys have printed it 15 times and it's getting great results for us now."
The Biden campaign sought to capitalize on the attention with a fundraising email blast that said, "We'll be honest. We've spent all morning brainstorming ideas for a clever email to send you about 30330. ... The funny part is we text Joe all the time about emails like this." Then it suggested donating $3.03, $30.33, or $303.30.
While Biden laughed off the flub, some debate watchers couldn't help but roast the candidate online, mocking the botched message and trying to guess what he meant. Some, like underdog candidate Mike Gravel, joked that he was trying to announce a 3030 presidential run.
While some mocked, one person capitalized on the blunder. A man named Josh Fayer figured some viewers would actually go to "Joe30330" and bought the domain name. Now, if you go to joe30330.com, you arrive at Josh's website for his exploratory committee for the 2020 presidential race.
"As the first Gen Z'er to declare candidacy for this office, you can trust that I'm the real deal," the website reads. "And I'm not joshin' you." Fayer also appears in a YouTube video which says he is running on a "no homework in college position." And he jokingly asks every Democrat in America to make a small donation of $1 million.
In real life, Fayer is a 21-year-old student at Syracuse University, majoring in public relations. He told USA Today he launched his "campaign" as an April Fool's Day joke earlier this year, and when he and a friend heard Biden stumble over "Joe 30330" they quickly purchased the matching website domain.
"Hey! If Joe Biden sent you here, we just want to make something clear: we're not affiliated with any presidential campaign. We're just having some good fun (maybe a little bit at the expense of Joe) :)" the bottom of the site reads.
Obviously, Fayer's exploratory committee is tongue-in-cheek — but the Biden campaign might be kicking themselves for not buying that domain first.
