(NEXSTAR) – Arun Chaudhary wasn’t trying to hide his motivations when he posted a video clip of former Vice President Joe Biden hugging a young man at an event honoring victims of the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The former White House videographer uploaded the two-year-old clip to give a last-minute boost to Biden’s electoral chances on November 3rd.
“I’m one of those who frets that the election will be much closer than the polls indicate. That in a world where non-voters are never targeted by Dems, huge turnout could contain multitudes. So I’m dropping some old footage of Joe Biden here,” Chaudhary tweeted.
As Today reports, the man in the video is Corey Hixon, son of Stoneman Athletic Director Chris Hixon, who was among 17 killed at the 2018 shooting. The clip is from an event later that year hosted by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself a shooting victim.
Chris Hixon was killed trying to save students, and Biden can be seen on video taking time to greet Hixon’s widow, Debbi. As Biden walks away, Corey – who has special needs – can be seen running up saying, “I’m his son” and embracing Biden. When Biden asks if he is ok, Corey shakes his head and Biden attempts to comfort him.
The clip has since been viewed millions of times, and shared by California Governor Gavin Newsom, among others, but the video was previously released in a campaign spot Tweeted by Giffords in September.
In that clip, Debbi Hixon talks about how the moment “meant a lot” to her family.
The clip has been seized on by Democrats as evidence of Biden’s compassion and humanity, traits they say will be needed in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and a renewed conversation about our nation’s racial division.
