Credibility crisis: When CNN criticized questioning Biden's mental fitness
A CNN anchor is the co-author of a buzzy new book that sheds light on President Joe Biden's apparent mental decline in office and the cover-up orchestrated by his team, but various CNN figures were critical in the past of narratives that questioned his fitness.
As Jake Tapper and co-author Alex Thompson promote "Original Sin," an account of the cover-up that features high-level Democratic sources, media critics have noted CNN and other mainstream outlets downplayed or were even hostile to the suggestion that Biden could be losing his grip before last year's debate against President Donald Trump.
Here are four examples at CNN.
New Book Reveals Biden's Inner Circle Worried About His Age Years Before Botched Debate Performance
Videos of Biden freezing up or appearing confused at various events went viral throughout 2024, but the White House aggressively pushed back, saying some of them were edited in a misleading fashion or didn't show what they purported.
The term "cheap fakes" was popularized, and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted from the podium that fact-checkers and mainstream outlets also embraced the term.
Read On The Fox News App
CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz pushed the White House's narrative last year about a video of Biden appearing to freeze up at a fundraiser with Jimmy Kimmel, saying Biden had merely "looked out at the crowd for a few seconds" before walking offstage with President Barack Obama, adding that "Republicans and right-leaning media outlets" "used this moment to say that President Biden froze."
Moments later during a panel discussion, CNN commentator and former Kamala Harris adviser Jamal Simmons called Biden's fundraiser moment an "obviously selected video."
"These are cheap fakes, [as] the White House and Biden people are calling them," Simmons told CNN's Erin Burnett.
Tapper feels differently about them.
Jake Tapper Declares Biden White House Lied About 'Cheap Fakes' After Cnn Peddled Narrative In 2024
"The Biden White House falsely- when people showed that clip and asked what was going on- said it was a 'cheap fake.' They did this all the time when there was video that seemed to show Biden acting in an odd or unusual, seemingly out-of-it way, they would call it a 'cheap fake.' It was not fake. It was actual video," Tapper said last week.
In a story in the aftermath of the Robert Hur report where Biden was memorably described as an elderly man with a poor memory, CNN's website published an article expressing concerns about both Biden and Trump and what type of cognitive ability was normal for a person in their 80s.
The article cited a professor who said Biden's issues with word recall were not necessarily indicative of someone having memory issues. Biden at times during the interview with Hur had difficulty remembering when he was vice president and the year of his son Beau's death in 2015.
The article concluded with the professor saying that ageism was codified in how people talk to one another, suggesting that the skepticism about Biden was a form of prejudice against the elderly.
"Ageism is not just what people do to each other. Ageism is also a mindset that you carry within yourself," the professor said. "It actually impacts your health negatively."
Jake Tapper's Past Coverage Of Biden's Cognitive Decline Under Scrutiny Ahead Of His New Book
Ex-CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy repeatedly hammered proponents of the idea that Biden was in mental decline in his "Reliable Sources" newsletter before leaving CNN last year.
"For years, and particularly over the last few months, MAGA Media has portrayed Biden as a senile, mentally incapacitated elderly man who cannot remember what he had for breakfast, let alone run the federal government," Darcy wrote in a newsletter last June, before the then-president's disastrous debate.
Darcy declared the debate would give Biden an easy chance to "puncture the narrative" that he lacked fitness for office, suggesting Republicans had stupidly lowered the bar so much that Biden would easily clear it and come out of the debate stronger.
"That's a worry for right-wing media figures, which risk seeing their bogus narrative about Biden being ripped up in real time," he wrote.
Darcy also blasted the Wall Street Journal report last June about Biden's behind-the-scenes decline in his newsletter, saying it "owes its readers — and the public — better." Asked for comment by Fox News Digital about his past coverage, Darcy, who left CNN last year to start his own newsletter called Status, pointed to his newsletter Wednesday where he declared conservative media outlets were taking an undeserved victory lap.
Biden Insider Exposes How White House 'Gaslit' The Public About Former President's Decline
"For years, right-wing media pushed a warped narrative of Joe Biden as a brain-dead puppet controlled by sinister, shadowy forces. Now they're demanding vindication—but they do not deserve it," he wrote.
Even after Biden dropped out of the race last July, "The View" co-host and CNN commentator Ana Navarro was committed to defending his mental acuity in office.
Later that week, Manhattan Institute official Reihan Salam wondered if Biden should even stay in office until his term ended, but Navarro erupted that any talk about his state behind the scenes was mere speculation.
"No, it is speculation! It is speculation! Because actually, unlike you, I've actually seen the guy at 9:00 at night. I have seen him after he has had five different events in 24 hours," Navarro said at one point.
Navarro appeared to have a strong interest in Biden, beyond that of a typical media pundit. Although she continues to identify as a Republican, the left-wing commentator is an avid supporter of the Democratic Party, hosted the second night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and has referred to Biden and Harris as "Uncle Joe" and "Auntie Kamala."
CNN has stood behind Tapper's past reporting in light of his new job, pointing to examples when he aggressively covered the subject. For his part, however, Tapper has said he feels "humility" about his past work on Biden and praised conservative media outlets for discussing what was in plain sight.
Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.Original article source: Credibility crisis: When CNN criticized questioning Biden's mental fitness
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
32 minutes ago
- CNBC
Elon Musk appears to delete some explosive X posts amid feud with Trump
Elon Musk has appeared to delete some of his posts on his social media platform X that escalated his bitter feud with President Donald Trump this week. One post, no longer available as of Saturday morning, accused Trump of being mentioned in "files" of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk's accusation, which the White House has disputed, marked an escalation in the public spat between the men. " page doesn't exist. Try searching for something else," said the X page that once displayed Musk's post. On Thursday, Musk also responded "yes" to a user's post that called for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vice President JD Vance. That post was also no longer available as of Saturday morning. In an interview on Friday with "manosphere" comedian Theo Von, Vance said Musk was making a "huge mistake" going after Trump, while attempting to downplay the billionaire's attacks as an "emotional guy" who got frustrated. It was not immediately clear why Musk deleted the posts. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Nonetheless, it's the latest twist in the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the onetime allies. Just over one week ago, Trump and Musk exchanged compliments at the conclusion of Musk's official time leading the Department of Government Efficiency. But their relationship devolved this week as the two men exchanged barbs on social media, stemming in large part from Musk's vocal opposition to Trump's "big, beautiful bill," CNBC previously reported. In one of the now-deleted posts, Musk accused Trump of being mentioned in files related to Epstein, without providing any evidence of his claim. Musk alleged, "that is the real reason they have not been made public." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Musk's allegations. "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted," she said in a statement to CNN.
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Could Trump fail on tax bill? Why going 'big' doesn't always work out as planned
Could Trump fail on tax bill? Why going 'big' doesn't always work out as planned Disputes inside the GOP about parts of Trump's major tax bill threaten approval in the Senate and past compromises reached by the Republican-led House. Show Caption Hide Caption Elon Musk 'disappointed' with Trump's tax bill Elon Musk told CBS he is 'disappointed' with President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax bill. Republicans begin debate in the narrowly divided Senate with factions seeking to increase spending cuts or curbing tax breaks, which threaten the compromise needed for approval back in the House. Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk complicated the debate by urging lawmakers to kill the bill. Congressional leaders insist approval is still possible despite the fissures in the narrow Republican majorities in each chamber and the unified opposition of Democrats. WASHINGTON – Will President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill' go bust? The second-term president's highest-priority legislation is under attack from some Senate Republicans – and from his former billionaire adviser Elon Musk – for costing too much. Complaints are also mounting from Republicans who are opposed to cutting Medicaid health insurance and other popular programs used by many Americans, especially as a way to help pay for tax breaks that would benefit some of the country's highest-income earners. With Republicans holding the slimmest of majorities in both chambers of Congress and with Democrats showing no sign of wanting to help Trump notch a major win to begin his new administration, lawmakers from Trump's own party are sounding apprehensive about threading the needle before their self-imposed July 4 deadline to get something to the president's desk for signature into law. More: Trump and Musk's bromance ends after personal attacks over criticism of tax bill 'We're anxious to get to work on it," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, told reporters earlier in the week as Republicans and Musk started publicly airing their complaints about the effort. Adding to the challenge: Some of the very House GOP members who last month voted in favor of their 1,100-page version of Trump's tax and policy plan started finding faults of their own that they say meant they'd probably have been a 'no' if they had the chance to do it again. Presidents often aim high to start terms Presidents often try in their first year to build on the momentum of their elections to get major legislation approved. For Joe Biden, it was an infrastructure bill. For Barack Obama, it was overhauling healthcare insurance. For George W. Bush, it was overhauling public education. Trump leapt into action in 2025 with an unprecedented pace of executive orders: 157 through May 23. When he turned to legislation, he persuaded Republican congressional leaders to package all his priorities into one bill, rather than splitting taxes and border security into two different bills, to complete the debate in one fell swoop. More: Everything's an 'emergency': How Trump's executive order record pace is testing the courts Lawmakers often shy away from piling too much into one bill because each contentious provision spurs its own opposition. But faced with the prospect of unanimous Democratic opposition, Trump opted for a strategy that focuses on GOP priorities such as tax relief and border security while personally lobbying reluctant Republicans to stay in line. 'Americans have given us a mandate for bold and profound change,' Trump told Congress in a speech March 4. 'I call on all of my Republican friends in the Senate and House to work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY,' he added in a social media post about three months later, on June 2. Musk opposition makes waves Trump's efforts worked in the Republican-led House, which after several days of negotiations and an all-night floor debate voted 215-214 in favor of a plan that had the full backing of the White House. Getting the measure through the Senate - even with the GOP in charge needing just a simple majority of 51 votes - is proving to be its own elusive challenge. Musk, the former head of Trump's bureaucracy-slashing Department of Government Efficiency, spent this past week unloading on the House-passed bill for spending too much money. He called the legislation "pork-filled" and a "disgusting abomination," and urged lawmakers to "KILL the BILL." More: The post-fight fallout from Trump-Musk battle could get even uglier While Musk's barrage ignited a war with Trump and left many Republicans cringing, deficit hawks in the GOP said they appreciated the world's richest man also pushing for deeper spending cuts from the U.S. government. "I welcome people like Elon Musk that try to hold our feet to the fire," said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Missouri. "We often disappoint our voters when we don't do the cuts that we campaign on, when we're not fiscally responsible." But Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, who served in the Air Force for 30 years, said the division between Trump and Musk wasn't a good look for his party, especially when it's trying to advance the primary piece of legislation on the president's agenda. "It's just not helpful," Bacon said. "When you have division, divided teams don't perform as well." 'The opposite of conservative': Sen. Paul on bill Several pockets of Republican senators have voiced concerns about the House-passed legislation. Each group has their issue that they want addressed, and each one presents a hurdle for Trump and GOP leaders like Thune as they try to cobble together a winning 51-vote coalition that can also make it back through the House for another final vote. The Senate factions include one group seeking to cut more spending because the Congressional Budget Office said the House-passed plan would add $2.4 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years. Others are worried about cutting Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income families. And another handful of senators say they are worried about the House-passed bill rolling back renewable energy tax credits for solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear energy. "There are many of us who recognize that what came out of the House was pretty aggressive in how it seeks to wind down or phase out many of the energy tax credit provisions," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. "I happen to think that we've got tax policies that are working to help advance our energy initiatives around the country, as diverse and as varied as they are. Wouldn't we want to continue those investments? 'This bill is the opposite of conservative, and we should not pass it,' added Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, in a June 4 social media post that raised concerns about the nation's debt limit. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is one of the outspoken Republicans taking issue with the House-passed bill's provisions that would cut nearly $800 billion during the next decade from Medicaid and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, cost 7.8 million people their health insurance. "I don't want to see rural hospitals close and I don't want to see any benefits cut in my state," Hawley said. Trump and his allies contend spending cuts of $1.6 trillion are the most ever approved in a House bill and that the tax cuts will spur economic growth to offset the costs. Trump got personal this week in calling Paul's ideas 'crazy' in a social media post and said the people of Kentucky 'can't stand him.' More: Trump lashes out at Sen. Rand Paul over opposition to big tax bill House Speaker Mike Johnson, a staunch Trump ally, told reporters June 4 that few people are going to like everything in an 1,100-page bill. But the Louisiana Republican said the measure he helped craft in the House was carefully calibrated to gain wide support. "I hope everybody will evaluate that – in both parties, and everybody – and recognize, 'Wow, the benefits of this far outweigh anything that I don't like out it,'" Johnson said. Senate dropping local tax deductions would be 'radioactive': Rep. Lalota Any changes made by the Senate will force another vote in the House before the bill can become law - and that's where the math can get tricky. Republican senators are talking about tinkering with a key compromise that Trump and Johnson signed off on in the House that raised the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) from $10,000 to $40,000 for people earning less than $500,000 per year. That provision is important to GOP lawmakers from high-tax states such as California, New York and New Jersey who supported the House bill that passed through the 435-seat chamber by only a one-vote margin. More: Senate Republicans plan to amend SALT tax deduction in Trump's sweeping bill The Senate aims to cut back that provision. But Rep. Nick Lalota, R-New York, told reporters on June 4 that revisiting the tax issue "would be like digging up safely-buried radioactive waste." House members scouring through the bill they voted on weeks ago are also finding unfamiliar provisions in the version that they say they would have opposed. For example, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, said in a social media post June 3 that the Senate needs to strip out language she hadn't noticed earlier that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Nebraska, said he opposed a section that aims to hinder federal judges from enforcing their court orders. Trump sought the provision to prevent judges from blocking policies largely spelled out via his executive orders. Senate could drop contentious provisions House members risked supporting Even though Republicans control both chambers of Congress, the Senate could drop or fail to approve contentious parts that GOP House colleagues in competitive districts already went out on a limb to support. It's happened many times before - with sizable political consequences. The concept even has a name: Getting BTU'd. That refers to a 1993 House vote on a controversial energy tax during the first year of Bill Clinton's presidency based on British thermal units. House Democrats lost 54 seats in the 1994 election – and control of the chamber for the first time in 40 years – in part because of supporting the BTU tax that the Senate never debated. John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, has said a book about such votes could be called 'Profiles in Futility.' Another example was the 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill which Obama supported as president that aimed to limit the emissions of heat-trapping gases from power plants, vehicles and other industrial sources. The Democrat-controlled House narrowly approved the measure 219-212 but the Senate never took it up. Critics said it would raise the cost of energy. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a non-profit libertarian think tank that opposed the measure, counted 28 House Democrats from coal states who lost their seats in the 2010 mid-term election after voting for the bill. Fast forward to 2025 and Republicans are the ones facing a similar dynamic. Musk, who contributed about $290 million of his personal fortune to help Republicans including Trump win last November, slammed House lawmakers who voted for the president's legislative package.'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk wrote June 3 on social media. But House Republicans who voted for the legislation, including some who also demanded deeper spending cuts when it was in their hands, said they're not worried about the package falling apart and coming back to haunt them. They say that's because they did fight for more budget cuts. "This wasn't a hard vote. It was hard going through the process to get more, and you can always do better," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina. "But look at what Donald Trump's done, the great things that are contributing to cutting the deficit." Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, who represents a competitive toss-up district, noted that he's introduced multiple bills to trim federal spending. "If Mr. Musk wants to be helpful, what he should do is start to understand that those of us in a 50-50 district who have shown up with actual policy solutions that offset every penny of this bill," he said. Leaving Washington for the weekend, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force Once on June 6 that he wasn't worried about Musk and that he remained confident he'd get "tremendous support" in the Senate to pass the bill. 'I don't know of anybody who's going to vote against it," the president said, before adding: "Maybe Rand Paul." For his part, Johnson told reporters June 4 that he wasn't concerned about House Republicans losing seats in 2026. Predicting that the Senate would find the necessary votes on the president's tax bill, the speaker said he expects Americans will see the benefits of Trump's efforts before the next election. 'Am I concerned about the effect of this on the midterms? I'm not," Johnson said. "I have no concern whatsoever. I am absolutely convinced that we are going to win the midterms and grow the House majority because we are delivering for the American majority and fulfilling our campaign promises." Contributing: Reuters
The Hill
41 minutes ago
- The Hill
Maher advises Democrats to ‘win' Elon Musk ‘back'
Comedian and media pundit Bill Maher is advising Democrats to 'win' back tech billionaire Elon Musk after the world's richest man fell out publicly with President Trump. Maher slammed some Democratic strategists' proposal that the party needs to have its own version of Joe Rogan. Instead, Maher said, Democrats should ask themselves why they lost 'the old one' since he 'used to be on your side.' 'He's expressed unease with some things Trump is doing, as has a certain disgruntled former employee named Elon Musk, who, like Joe, is another guy who, five years ago, was thought of as a liberal but got driven into the other camp by bad attitudes and bad ideas, a reversal I completely understand, although I would never emulate,' Maher said Friday night on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher.' 'They tried real hard to cancel Rogan a few years ago, and when Elon hosted Saturday Night Live in 2021, well before he was a Trumper, some of the cast members gave him the cold shoulder for the sin of being rich. You think people don't remember when you do this s— to them that it's not going to have blowback,' the comedian said, alluding to Musk's previous support for Democratic candidates, including former Presidents Biden and Obama. 'Now me again. You don't have to win me back, because I never left. But all the guys in America like Joe and Elon, yeah, you do have to win them back. The good news is you can,' he added on Friday night. Maher then pointed to Musk's recent criticism of the administration, including his disappointment with Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' Trump said Thursday at the White House that he had a 'great' relationship with Musk, but that might not be the case anymore. The tech billionaire and former Department of Government Efficiency adviser then fired back, signaling he is open to forming a third party, backing calls for Trump to be impeached and accusing the president of being listed in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Trump warned that he could opt to cut off Musk's companies' contracts with the federal government. 'So I think we call that a gettable voter, someone who's mulling a change,' Maher said of Musk. 'Maybe this will put quietest to the nonsense that Elon and Rogan too went to the dark side.' Ever since suffering heavy losses during the 2024 election cycle, Democrats are looking to rebuild their image, shore up their base and find ways to effectively counter Trump. The party is also looking for its next leader. Democrats have also expressed frustration about efforts to bring men into their coalition who, in November, backed Trump over former Vice President Harris. The GOP did a better of job of speaking to men during the race, particularly younger men, through mediums such as podcasts. 'They kicked our a‑‑es all over the place with these guys,' one top Democratic strategist told The Hill. 'They met male voters exactly where they were and we, on the other hand, had nothing comparable.' At least one House Democrat is open to wooing back Musk, who previously was a Democratic Party donor, into the party's tent. 'If Biden had a big supporter criticize him, Trump would have hugged him the next day. When we refused to meet with @RobertKennedyJr, Trump embraced him & won. We can be the party of sanctimonious lectures, or the party of FDR that knows how to win & build a progressive majority,' Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said in a Thursday post on social media platform X.
