NBC News this week featured a Parkinson’s expert who speculated that Biden might have the disease, further fuelling doubts about his capacity to serve. This followed reports that a top neurologist specialising in Parkinson’s had visited the White House multiple times, ostensibly raising concerns about Biden’s cognitive health. CNN’s Jake Tapper also joined the chorus of criticism this week: “Many Democratic officials with whom I’ve spoken say President Biden, and his family, and his inner circle appear to be in complete denial.”

Perhaps the most damning media moment was a CNN appearance by Carl Bernstein, who reported that, for over a year, people close to Biden have come to the White House Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients, with concerns that the President is not of sound mind.

This all follows years spent by the media glossing over an endless parade of troubling moments from Biden, including numerous falls, freezing up in public, and confusing France’s Emmanuel Macron with long-dead former president François Mitterrand. Instead, the press focused on Dark Brandon memes, heartrending tales of his devotion as a father, and, of course, his love of ice cream.

While the media’s newfound zeal for reporting negatively on a Democratic candidate is evident, there are still major gaps. For example, the press has been vociferous on Biden’s shortcomings as an election candidate. But few news organisations have tackled the all-important question of who is currently running the world’s most powerful country.

Journalistic investigations into outrageous revelations that Hunter Biden is now effectively a gatekeeper to the presidency have been scant, with one outlet, Axios, driving almost all of the reporting. Likewise, there have been no deep dives into the extensive concealment of Biden’s mental state, no journalistic task forces launched to reveal how this could happen or who was involved.

Instead, the press is doubling down on its “Save Democracy” sloganeering as a means of rationalising its approach to journalism as political advocacy. Given all this, if Biden’s polling improves — as, at least at some point, it very well might — these criticisms are likely to dissipate. Media narratives could quickly shift, with outlets downplaying previous health concerns and refocusing on Biden’s positive aspects. Or, of course, reverting to the norm of attacking Trump.

If Biden’s polling numbers rebound, the media will likely pivot and label the debate — along with everything we’ve seen before and afterwards — “episodic in nature”. Then, just as the hosts of Pod Save America pledged to do no matter how much evidence stacks up of Biden’s intellectual dysfunction, they’ll line up for their chosen candidate.

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Ashley Rindsberg is author of The Gray Lady Winked: How the New York Times’ Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History

AshleyRindsberg

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