Biden supporters
© Reuters/Mike Segar
Joe Biden's campaign is facing criticism for now focusing on in-person canvassing after spending months avoiding it and criticizing Donald Trump's campaign for holding events during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said Thursday:
"We're now expanding on our strategy in a targeted way that puts the safety of communities first and foremost and helps us mobilize voters who are harder to reach by phone now that we're in the final stretch."
The strategy will focus on multiple swing states with several hundred volunteers canvassing in states like Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

She is one of many Biden campaign and Democrat Party officials whose past comments are now revealing a 'flip-flop' of sorts on the issue of in-person campaigning in 2020, which the Trump campaign has been doing for months.


O'Malley Dillon told reporters last month that "while you might hear our opponent spend a lot of time talking about the millions of door knocks or attempts that they're making week-to-week, those metrics actually don't have any impact on reaching voters."

States director Jenn Ridder also downplayed the significance of in-person canvassing last month saying Trump's voter outreach "fails to understand the concerns of Americans right now. He is blatantly having events. He is blatantly going to doors," she said.

Other political critics and media talking heads have taken their criticism further, questioning whether Trump's refusal to slow down on in-person campaigning is dangerous during the pandemic. DNC War Room senior spokesperson and advisor tweeted in August:

"This is a huge reversal for the Biden camp which attacked Trump camp for knocking," Politico writer Alex Thompson tweeted in a string of messages.

Trump campaign officials have also capitalized on the reversal to blast the former vice president and his party.

"Science hasn't changed. Biden is pushing panic button!" Trump campaign senior advisor Jason Miller tweeted.