Is Joe Biden excluding the public from his campaign events only to be safe from COVID and to keep us from seeing how few people would show up? No!

I think the answer is no. In the previous post, about an appearance in Cincinnati — "in the massive rotunda of Cincinnati's Union Terminal" — where there were only invited guests — "about 20 local Democrats and union leaders" — and the publicly stated reason was "to follow COVID-19 safety protocols," I wrote: "That's lots of safety... and also lots of protection from creating an embarrassing visual if nobody shows up."

I'd only thought of one unspoken reason for closing the event to the public — to shield Biden from making a spectacle of his inability to draw a crowd. But after publishing the post, I thought, no, there's clearly another reason. It's not merely that he might not draw a big crowd. It's that he might draw the wrong crowd. Even before the George-Floyd-inspired protests began, protesters were ambushing Biden events. Remember this, from March 3rd? No COVID precautions at that time, I see. That's almost 2 months before the current wave of anti-police protests (and riots) began. 

One can only wonder what sort of chaos might flare up within a public Biden event if Biden dropped the COVID shield. So remaining closed to non-insiders is overdetermined.

Side note: I needed to look up when George Floyd died, and I was surprised to see how Google responded — and not just to see who the most Google-important Georges are:

I was surprised to see George Floyd identified as "American hip-hop artist." I really thought that was simply a mistake, but clicking through to the Wikipedia page "George Floyd," I see what Google is doing. It is identifying a person by his life, even when he is far more famous — or perhaps only famous — because of how he died. This might be a standard Google policy. The Wikipedia biography does show some experience as a "hip-hop artist" (along with other, varied forms of employment):

Beginning in 1994, he performed as a rapper using the stage name Big Floyd in the hip hop group Screwed Up Click. The New York Times described his deep-voiced rhymes as "purposeful", delivered in a slow-motion clip about "'choppin' blades' – driving cars with oversize rims – and his Third Ward pride". Between 1997 and 2005, Floyd served eight prison terms on various charges, including drug possession, theft, and trespass. In 2009, he was sentenced to five years in prison for armed robbery in a home invasion and was paroled in January 2013.... In 2014, Floyd moved to Minneapolis to help rebuild his life and find work. He was a truck driver and a bouncer, and lived in St. Louis Park.... From 2017 to 2018, he was a security guard for a Salvation Army facility. In 2019, George Floyd worked security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club, where police officer Derek Chauvin also worked off-duty as a security guard. In 2020, Floyd lost his security job at a bar and restaurant affected by the COVID-19 pandemic rules,  and in April of that year contracted COVID-19 himself, but recovered a few weeks later....

From the NYT article — something about his voice:

Mr. Floyd kept a Bible by his bed. Often, he read it aloud. And despite his height, Mr. Floyd would fold himself in the hallway to frequently pray with Theresa Scott, one of his roommates. “He had this real cool way of talking. His voice reminded me of Ray Charles. He’d talk fast and he was so soft-spoken,” said Alvin Manago, 55, who met Mr. Floyd at a 2016 softball game. They bonded instantly and became roommates. “He had this low-pitched bass. You had to get used to his accent to understand him. He’d say, ‘Right-on, right-on, right-on.’”