Reporter rips fellow journalists at White House Correspondents' Dinner for failing to cover Biden's decline
Beltway reporters were forced to reckon with their coverage of Joe Biden's mental decline at the White House Correspondents' Dinner after honoring a maverick reporter who worked to expose the ex president's problems, despite pushback.
Star Axios reporter Alex Thompson tore into the Biden administration — and fellow journalists — after receiving the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence Saturday for his coverage of Biden's age and acuity at a time when other media outlets were turning a blind eye.
'President Biden's decline and its coverup by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception,' Thompson said.
'But being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows.'
3 The White House press corps reckoned with its coverage of former President Joe Biden during the WHCA Dinner.
AFP via Getty Images
Thompson was a rare, deeply sourced reporter who frequently wrote about the lengths the Biden White House went through to accommodate the elderly president, 82, before the disastrous presidential debate last June forced the media to finally own up to the problem.
This included pieces about top White House aides around Biden privately believing that the then-president was slipping and how they tried to keep his decline under wraps.
'I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust, and being defensive about them further erodes it,' Thompson reflected. 'We should have done better.'
'I believe our mission is vital in a world where people are struggling to figure out what's true, and people with power are not telling the truth,' he added. 'I also believe that this association has been, is, and will continue to be critical to that mission.'
3 Alex Thompson is set to release a book on former President Joe Biden's decline next month.
Alex Thompson / Linkedin
Thompson is slated to release a book titled 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again' with CNN's Jake Tapper on May 20, which does a deep dive into the 46th president's cognitive issues.
In a stark departure from past WHCA dinners, this year's meal did not feature a headliner comedian. The WHCA canceled its plans to have late-night host Amber Ruffin provide entertainment, after she wanted to rip into the Trump administration as a 'bunch of murderers.'
Tensions between the WHCA and the White House are high. President Trump's team has been influencing the selection of White House pool reporters that get access to White House events.
The WHCA used to exclusively make those decisions.
Trump and his top lieutenants skipped the dinner, which is usually attended by the sitting president.
3 The Trump administration has seized on the press' coverage of former President Joe Biden to knock the media's credibility.
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WHCA President Eugene Daniels acknowledged the friction with the White House.
'We journalists are a lot of things. We are competitive and pushy. We are impatient and sometimes we think we know everything,' Daniels said. 'What we are not is the opposition. What we are not is the enemy of people. What we are not is the enemy of the state.'
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Flashback: Biden repeatedly equated Islamophobia and antisemitism amid surge in attacks on Jews
As violent instances of antisemitism break out around the country this year, Fox News Digital took a look back at former President Joe Biden's penchant for equating antisemitism and Islamophobia. While the former president rightly condemned hate directed at Jews in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israelis and the subsequent war in Gaza, Biden was almost always sure to draw an equivalency with anti-Muslim sentiment. "In recent years, too much hate has given too much oxygen, fueling racism, the rise of antisemitism, Islamophobia right here in America," Biden said, days after the war broke out, in a prime-time address from the White House. He added: "We can't stand by and stand silent when this happens. We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia." Biden added during a Human Rights Campaign event in October 2023: "We have to reject hate in everything, because history has taught us again and again, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, they're all connected. Hate toward one group left unanswered opens the door for more hate toward more groups, more often, regularly." Instances of antisemitism spiked to new highs last year, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) finding in a new report that there were 9,354 antisemitic incidents in 2024, a 5% increase from 2023 and a staggering 926% increase since it began tracking such data in 1979. Trump Admin Cracks Down Antisemitism As Doj Official Exposes 'Violent Rhetoric' Of Radical Protesters Read On The Fox News App The war in Israel initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was "open season for Jews on our campuses." The protests heightened to the point that Jewish students at some schools, including Columbia University, were warned to leave campus for their own safety. Agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide last school year to protest the war, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they did not feel safe on some campuses. Protesters on Columbia University's campus in New York City, for example, took over the school's Hamilton Hall building, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale worked to clear spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel. Antisemitic Violence Erupts In America As Some Invoke Intifada And Target Jews As the protests hit a fever pitch last year, Biden again equated antisemitism with Islamophobia, even though it was clear that Jews were the group being targeted with harassment and violence. "There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans," Biden said from the White House in May 2024 as the protests on college campuses continued. "It's simply wrong. There is no place for racism in America." Biden faced condemnation from conservatives and other critics for not simply denouncing antisemitism as Jews in the U.S. faced protests and instances of antisemitism. Jewish Students Welcome Trump Admin's Crackdown On Antisemitism, Hamas Sympathizers On Campuses "At a time when no college campus is on lockdown over Islamophobia, Joe Biden felt the need to spend as much time in his speech denouncing Islamophobia and 'discrimination against Arab Americans' as he did antisemitism. He is never able to just call out antisemitism," radio host Erick Erickson commented on X in May 2024 as campus protests against Israel raged. "Biden repeats his both-sideisms," veteran James Hutton wrote last year of Biden's previous comments. "Only the Jewish students are being violated. Biden knows that, but he really wants those votes in Michigan." "Biden is incapable of simply condemning antisemitism. Yet another equivocation. This administration is an embarrassment," Kerry Rom, deputy communications director for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X last year. Israeli Columbia Professor Wants Trump To Block Certain Institutions From Receiving Federal Funding This year, the Trump administration is cracking down on antisemitism and attacks on American Jews, which were underscored by a shooting that left a Jewish couple dead on the streets of Washington, D.C., last month outside of a Jewish museum, as well as a terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, last Sunday when an Egyptian national identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly hurled Molotov cocktails at people participating in a solidarity event for Israeli hostages still in Hamas captivity. Soliman's charging documents stated that he "traveled to Boulder, Colorado, in his vehicle with the Molotov cocktails and threw two of the cocktails at individuals participating in a pro-Israel gathering. He also stated that he picked up gas at a gas station on the way to Boulder. He stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead." Biden Administration Launches National Strategy To Combat Islamophobia, Anti-arab Hate Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – the Keystone State's third Jewish governor – faced his own instance of antisemitism when a suspect set fire to the governor's residence while he and his family were asleep on the first night of Passover. President Donald Trump meanwhile, signed an executive order on "Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism" in January as his administration launched its crackdown on antisemitism. While federal law enforcement officials have arrested individuals allegedly tied to the widespread anti-Israel protests last year, the White House has threatened to end federal funding to universities that allow violent anti-Israel protests and is investigating immigration status of those accused of leading campus protests or carrying out antisemitic article source: Flashback: Biden repeatedly equated Islamophobia and antisemitism amid surge in attacks on Jews
The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
ICE moves to dismiss cases in bid to fast-track deportations after courthouse arrests
As Vadzim Baluty watched his son Aliaksandr Baluty get arrested by six plainclothes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers directly after an immigration court hearing, he had the sinking feeling he'd made a costly mistake. Vadzim Baluty, accompanying his son for his first court appearance in his asylum bid, agreed last month when an ICE prosecutor offered to drop the case against the recent Belarusian migrant, not realizing his son would be swiftly detained as soon as the pair exited the courtroom. 'I felt like we had fallen into a judicial trap,' he said in Russian through an interpreter in an interview with The Hill. 'We left the courtroom and an ICE officer told us our son was going to be deported in three days. Nobody told us the decision that we made — what it was going to cause.' ICE prosecutors across the country are increasingly moving to dismiss cases against migrants in a bid to fast track their deportations. While a dismissal might seem like the end of a battle to remain in the county, some leaving courthouses have instead been met by ICE agents who are then free to arrest them and place them in expedited removal proceedings, speeding their deportation without a court hearing. Rekha Sharma-Crawford, an immigration lawyer and board member with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) called it a 'bait and switch.' 'The troubling thing here is that people are doing the right thing and going to court. They hear what they think is great news, that their case is dismissed. But instead, they are subject to a bait and switch and a plainclothes ICE agent will then arrest them. They are detained and then they are pressured to sign documents that basically sign away all of their rights, and they are subject to expedited removal and don't have a chance for a full and fair hearing,' she said in a call with reporters. Vadzim Baluty, a 47-year-old Belarusian political activist who was granted asylum in 2022 after fleeing the Lukashenko dictatorship, thought ICE was aware of his petition to bring his children to the country. He also didn't think Aliaksandr Baluty, now 21, would be deported after entering the country legally. His son was permitted to enter the U.S. through Mexico after waiting in the country seven months for an appointment made through the Biden-era CBP One app. Such a dynamic has only become possible with the shift from the Trump administration, which has expanded the scope of expedited removals. While the process previously was used only for migrants within two weeks of their entering the country and within 100 miles of the border, the Trump administration now allows the tool to be used up to two years after a person enters the U.S. regardless of where they are in the country. Critics call the move an end run around due process and fault the administration for using ICE officers who are often not in uniform and may be wearing masks. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) went to an immigration courthouse in his district last week, sitting in on court proceedings and witnessing ICE prosecutors dismiss cases followed by migrants being arrested by plainclothes agents as they exited — something he called 'Gestapo-like behavior.' 'The Department of Homeland Security has implemented, over the last week, a coordinated effort to do an end run around our legal system in order to remove nonviolent, noncriminal immigrants trying to come into this country through a lawful pathway of immigration proceedings, and in many cases, asylum proceedings,' he said at a press conference afterward. 'By recommending dismissal of their cases, the Department of Homeland Security is essentially taking jurisdiction away from the court, removing the asylum application from going forward, and then allowing the immigration agents to arrest these people and put them in a deportation proceeding under a different authority than the one that they just dismissed, which has fewer rights and applies in very few circumstances.' Sharma-Crawford said it's especially confusing for pro se litigants — those representing themselves in court. Not only are they being approached by plainclothes officers, but they may not know what to do next. Those placed in expedited removal are not entitled to a hearing, but they can request an interview with an asylum officer if they fear they will be persecuted if returned to their home country. If they pass that screening, their case could be returned to immigration court. Vadzim Baluty has since hired attorney Malinda Schmiechen to represent his son, who asked for the credible fear interview that would route his case back into the immigration court system. Aliaksandr Baluty told them how during a visit to register for the mandatory draft, military officials in the country made a veiled comment about his father and said they were going to teach him to 'love the motherland.' Another officer in the room said, 'You will be in the army for your father.' 'The draft officer said that I — in the army — I would be punished for my father,' Aliaksandr Baluty told an asylum officer, according to a transcript of the interview his attorney shared with The Hill. At his father's advice, Aliaksandr Baluty fled that night to nearby Georgia. Military officials later showed up at his mother's house with a forged conscription document, saying they would prosecute him as a draft dodger. Schmiechen was informed Thursday night, however, that an asylum officer rejected the claim, calling it 'a betrayal all around.' 'I feel like this is a betrayal against our law, against the America that is a sanctuary for so many, and against young Aliaksandr, who fled for his life and seeks to live peacefully with his family,' Schmiechen told The Hill. 'It's a betrayal because the government attorneys betrayed the law with their motion to dismiss, knowing that it would lead to Aliaksandr's detention. It's a betrayal because the American government is using taxpayer money unnecessarily to detain Aliaksandr, and it's a betrayal to Aliaksandr, whose detention is treating him like a criminal, though he's not one.' The arrests come as the GOP at large has vented frustration at the immigration court system, where cases can languish in a years-long backlog. The Department of Homeland Security defended the courthouse arrests as well as their use of expedited removal. 'Most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. Biden ignored this legal fact and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been,' the department said in a statement. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.' Goldman also criticized ICE for using plainclothes officers, saying that in his observations, agents had printed out photos of those they would be arresting and were often wearing masks. 'When I asked them, 'Why are you wearing a mask?' One person told me, 'Because it's cold.' I asked him if he would testify to that under oath, and he walked away and wouldn't respond to me,' he said. 'Another person admitted that they were wearing masks so that they are not caught on video. And my question to them is: 'If what you are doing is legitimate, is lawful, is totally aboveboard, why do you need to cover your face?'' Schmiechen said she's working quickly to explore other options for Aliaksandr Baluty, including requesting that his credible fear claims be reviewed by an immigration court judge. If that doesn't work, she's planning to make a filing in federal court. 'I just feel like we don't have much time at this point,' she said. To Vadzim Baluty, the whole episode has chilling parallels with what he experienced in Belarus. 'This is how it began,' he said. The arrest of his son, just feet from the courthouse doors, happened in less than 60 seconds and left him in shock. He said he never imagined the words 'stop prosecution' could have led to 'expulsion from the country and separation of father and son.' 'Everything is starting to remind us that we are not in a free country. What is happening today is vaguely reminiscent of the birth of a dictatorship, when they categorically begin to solve the political issue at the moment with immigration,' he said. 'I don't feel safe now. None of the immigrants feel safe in the U.S.'
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Progressive states that care not for laws or the border are the ones tearing us apart
The whole nation has been watching the anti-ICE 'protests' playing out on television, and I cannot help but be struck by the multiplicity of ironies. Once upon a time — and not so long ago — immigration enforcement actions took place at worksites, in Los Angeles and many other locations, with such regularity that no one would have paused to bat an eye. Now they are the cause of riots and assaults on federal officers and property, while state and local governments slow-walk law enforcement responses for something as fundamental as protecting the safety of those officers. It is as if these levels of government have a detached notion of 'federalism' that runs only one way: they can levy demands on the federal government, usually involving massive amounts of money and other assistance, while recognizing no obligations in return. What we are seeing, although it has become all too pervasive in progressive hot spots, is not normal. It is the confluence of permissive policies toward crime and violence in blue-run cities and states, with the flooding of the border that took place over the entire length of the Biden administration. During those four years, anywhere from 10 to 14 million aliens entered the country either illegally or under transparently bogus programs designed to facilitate their entry, and all of them apparently believe they have a right to be here — even as they wave foreign flags while tossing Molotov cocktails or setting cars on fire. I have heard a number of politicians and journalists decry the wearing of masks by federal officers (who very reasonably fear being doxxed, putting their families at risk), but I have yet to hear one of them ask why the rioters who shut down traffic, vandalize property and fling bottles, bicycles and other objects at the officers, are also masked. It goes unremarked because the reason is clear: they do not want to be identified and held responsible for their mayhem. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters The difference in reasoning and motivation between the officers and the protesters could not be any more stark. But as we watch lawless rioters go unchecked while federal efforts are stymied by the courts at every turn, some of us may be wondering whether the Constitution has in fact morphed into a suicide pact, given the imbalance that has become apparent in the three branches of government. The judiciary, once described as the 'weakest' branch, has come to wield entirely too much power when a select few district court judges can throw so much sludge into the wheels of government that they grind to a halt. The conclusion that I, and I suspect most Americans, draw from what we are seeing and hearing is that this administration is not only on the right track where immigration enforcement is concerned, but that time is indeed of the essence, and the stakes are incredibly high, if we are to heal from the deliberate rending of the social fabric that has taken place. Dan Cadman is a Center for Immigration Studies fellow and a retired INS/ICE official with 30 years of government experience.
