For years, independent and conservative media have reported on Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, raising serious questions about his fitness for office. Yet these concerns were largely dismissed as “conspiracy theories” or “ageist” attacks by the mainstream media and the Democratic Party. Now, however, the narrative appears to be shifting, with major outlets finally acknowledging that they failed to report on Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.
For example, during a year-end panel, Major Garrett asked about the year’s “undercovered or underreported” stories, and CBS News legal correspondent Jan Crawford acknowledged that major media outlets significantly downplayed Biden’s cognitive decline.
“Undercovered and underreported, that would be, to me, Joe Biden's obvious cognitive decline that became undeniable in the televised debate,” she said, without hesitating.
Excuse me, but Biden’s cognitive decline wasn’t “undercovered or underreported” -- it was covered up. So much of the evidence was indisputable. How many videos of Joe Biden appearing lost on stage did they need to see to be convinced there was a problem? How many times did the media, after Biden had disastrous interactions with them, push the White House line that videos of Biden looking old and senile were “cheap fakes"? How many times did they respond to questions about Biden’s cognitive decline and advanced age with bogus reports claiming Trump was having cognitive issues when he wasn’t?
“And it's starting to emerge now that his advisers kind of managed his limitations—which has been reported in The Wall Street Journal—for four years,” Crawford continued. “And yet he insisted that he could still run for president.”
The exposé by the Wall Street Journal revealed how the White House has meticulously managed Biden’s public appearances and shielded his cognitive decline from the public. Under the guise of COVID precautions, his team created an impenetrable bubble around him, controlling his schedule and keeping him in a largely ceremonial role. His staff reportedly handles most of the administrative duties, ensuring Biden avoids unscripted moments that could expose his limitations. This manufactured image has allowed Democrats to maintain the illusion of competence while the president has become a figurehead in his own administration.
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“We should have much more forcefully questioned whether he was fit for office for another four years, which could have led to a primary for the Democrats,” Crawford lamented. “It could have changed the scope of the entire election. Yet still, incredibly, we read in The Washington Post that his advisers are saying that he regrets that he dropped out of the race, that he thinks he could have beaten Trump. And I think that is either delusional or they're gaslighting the American people.”
Now that the election is over, it's finally okay for the mainstream media to admit they "underreported" Joe Biden's cognitive decline. pic.twitter.com/wxzhzvcAcC
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) December 29, 2024
I’ve said before we shouldn’t fall for this mea culpa. By admitting now that they should have covered Biden’s cognitive decline more aggressively, they’re merely setting the stage to wage future attacks on Donald Trump’s mental fitness in his second term. It’s not like they haven’t tried to push the narrative that Trump is “too old” or cognitively impaired before. The liberal media questioned Trump’s mental health during his first term without any reason to, and then, during the campaign, they countered questions about Biden’s cognitive health by questioning Trump’s.
This pivot also serves to rewrite history, allowing the media to obscure their failures in vetting Biden during the 2020 election, when there were plenty of signs that he wasn’t physically or mentally capable of handling the presidency. Instead of taking responsibility for covering up his decline, they’re now framing themselves as having learned their lesson just in time for Trump to take office, hoping the public won’t remember how they spent years gaslighting voters in order to stop Trump from returning to office.
