It happens organically, without prompting: Joe Biden’s event wraps up and they line up to talk to him.
They lean in and talk into his ear. They take his hands or he takes theirs. The former vice president adopts a priest-like persona: Appearing to block out everything around him, he places his hands atop their shoulders, looks them in the eye, then dispenses words of comfort they’ve skipped work or traveled from another state to hear.