The corporate media—and the White House press corps in particular—ignored signs of Joe Biden‘s cognitive decline because they feared negative stories on the matter would help former President Donald J. Trump‘s 2024 election effort. Additionally, members of the press had worries their reports on the 81-year-old incumbent’s health would give legitimacy to independent and right-wing media outlets.
“Like all past presidents, Biden has good days and bad days,” CNN media correspondent Hadas Gold wrote late yesterday, tacitly defending the lack of media coverage. She added: “It can be tricky to report on something as difficult to define as a person aging, when his opponent is a convicted felon, who regularly lies and has threatened to use the government to go after his political opponents.”
Gold—and several unnamed reporters she spoke with—tepidly acknowledged that the media failed to press Biden and White House officials regarding his health, especially following concerns raised by Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Robert Hur in February. However, the CNN correspondent also blames corporate media’s reluctance to cover Biden’s health on the ample reporting by the independent and right-wing press.
“Biden’s age was also a right-wing talking point for years, something the White House was quick to point out to reporters, which may have inadvertently turned off any serious investigation,” Gold admitted.
The National Pulse reported in May that CNN‘s viewership has plummeted to an all-time low, driven in part by their anti-Trump bias.