First Read correctly points out that if Joe Biden’s gaffes are news, why wasn’t there the same level of discussion on what President Trump said yesterday in Pennsylvania?

• “That’s a lot of people back there for a — like an 11 o’clock speech. That’s a lot of people. That’s a lot.” (In fact, the speech was after 2:00 pm ET.)
• “This Shell petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania — I did very well here. We did very well. How many points did we win by? Does anybody know?  I’ll tell you.  Isn’t it, I think, 28 points? That’s a lot.” (Trump won Beaver County by 19 points in 2016.)
• “I got sued on a thing called ‘emoluments.’ Emoluments. You ever hear the word?  Nobody ever heard of it before. They went back. Now, nobody looks at Obama getting $60 million for a book.” (Obama signed his book deal in 2017, after leaving office.)

New York Times: “Each contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination is trying to distinguish himself or herself as the strongest candidate to take on the president. In doing so, the candidates have been eager to be seen as speaking plain truth to what they frame as venal power on issues of race, character and everything else.”

“But if the steady stream of ad hominem attacks is failing to shock, awe or drive the news, it is in part because there is little left in terms of criticism of Mr. Trump that has not already been volleyed — by his own team.”

Dan Balz: “Romney was the disrespected front-runner in the 2012 Republican field. He could be awkward as a candidate and paid a price for it in the coverage of his campaign. But as with Biden, he led in most — not all — surveys ahead of the primaries and caucuses.”

“Romney was running in a Republican Party that was absorbing the impact of a rising and noisy tea party movement. He was described as out of step with a party that was moving swiftly to the right. He presented himself as a conservative, and his positions were generally conservative, including on immigration. But many conservatives regarded him with suspicion.”

“Biden finds himself in a somewhat similar situation today. The Democratic Party has moved to the left since he became vice president under President Barack Obama. As a senator, Biden was in what was then the party’s liberal wing.”