Joe Biden parody site beats his official campaign page on Google
The site looks pretty real, but a closer examination reveals its anti-Biden tone.
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden might not find the parody site funny.
Googling "Joe Biden" won't bring up the Democratic presidential hopeful's official campaign page, but one of the top results looks a whole lot like it.
The parody site appears under the name "Joe Biden for President 2020" and appears pretty legit at a glance. However, a close look at the language and imagery reveals the intent to mock the former vice president, who announced 2020 White House run in April.
"Uncle Joe is back and ready to take a hands-on approach to America's problems! Joe Biden has a good feel for the American people and knows exactly what they really want deep down." it reads. "He's happy to open up and reveal himself to voters and will give a pounding to anybody who gets in his way!"
The page includes photos and GIFs alluding to the allegations that he touched women inappropriately (which he responded to last month), as well as past policy positions, some unflattering quotes and a situation with a Ukrainian prosecutor.
By comparison, Biden's official campaign site for the 2020 US presidential election is pretty hard to find via Google -- the easiest way is through his Facebook or Twitter pages.
The site's anonymous creator said via email that they'd only "realized the extent" of Biden's actions after compiling the coverage.
"I thought that it would be a good idea to create a website that was funny and easy to digest which showcased a lot of his actions," they wrote, noting that they had to cut some GIFs and images "for space and flow."
The New York Times, which opted to name the site in its reporting, said June 29 that it was created by Patrick Mauldin, who makes "videos and other digital content for President Trump's re-election campaign. Together with his brother Ryan, Mr. Mauldin also runs Vici Media Group, a Republican political consulting firm in Austin."
It takes a while for Google's systems to learn whether a new site is a reliable source of information, said a spokesperson for the company, and the ranking of Biden's campaign site is likely to change over time.
The Biden campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Originally published May 7, 5:07 a.m. PT.
Updates, 8:13 a.m.: Adds comment from the site's creator; 11:39 a.m.: Includes comment from Google. Update, July 1, 11:51 a.m.: Updated to reflect reporting by The New York Times.