Latest news with #ItsCover-Up
The South African
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The South African
Piers Morgan and Bill Clinton clash over Biden's health
Piers Morgan, the outspoken British broadcaster, set social media alight with a scorching attack on former US president Bill Clinton. The reason? Clinton's unwavering support for Joe Biden's health and fitness for office. Morgan, never shy of a headline, called Clinton 'delusional' and even questioned the former president's own cognitive state. 'This is either staggering delusion, wilful blindness, or President Clinton himself is now suffering from serious cognitive decline,' Morgan thundered on X. The drama kicked off after Clinton appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to promote his new memoir, The First Gentleman , according to Express. During the interview, Clinton dismissed claims that Biden was in decline while in the White House. When pressed about allegations from the explosive book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again , Clinton stood firm. 'No. I thought he was a good president. The only concern I thought he had to deal with was, could anybody do that job until they were 86?' Clinton said. He added, 'I had never seen him and walked away thinking he can't do this anymore. He was always on top of his brief'. But Piers Morgan wasn't buying it. He shared a Fox News article and unleashed his trademark fury. The internet, as expected, erupted. Some supported Morgan's blunt honesty. Others accused him of stirring the pot for clicks. Clinton, for his part, brushed off the controversy. He insisted he'd never witnessed any signs of cognitive decline in Biden. 'I didn't know anything about any of this. And I haven't read the book. I saw President Biden not very long ago, and I thought he was in good shape,' Clinton said. He even questioned the motives behind the book's release, suggesting it was 'a way to blame him for the fact that [Donald] Trump was reelected'. As the Democratic Party faces scrutiny for allegedly hiding Biden's condition, the world watches. Clinton's defence may have backfired, fuelling more questions than answers. Morgan's words echo across continents: 'Is it delusion, or just politics as usual?' One thing's certain. In the world of power and politics, the battle for truth is never dull. As Morgan said, 'The public deserves honesty, not fairy tales.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Ashley Biden slams reporting about her dad's mental acuity as 'disrespectful and untrue'
Ashley Biden, daughter of former President Joe Biden, had harsh words for what she called "DAMN disrespectful and untrue" reports about her father's age on Monday. In an Instagram post, Ashley Biden shared a picture of herself with her parents, the former president and former first lady Jill Biden, on a beach, saying she was "too grateful to be angry about all the bulls---." "The ONLY coverup of this family is a BEACH coverup," Ashley Biden wrote. She defended her father, saying that he gave his all as president and pushed back on reporting in books like "Original Sin" that he was mentally declining while in office. 'Original Sin' Co-author Exposes 'Frantic Efforts' To Hide Biden's Cognitive Decline "He aged, YES! As we all do! And the stress of the presidency accelerates. But he was always MORE than capable of doing the job. And a damn good one. He worked harder than anyone I have ever known - he took his duty and sacred obligation to this country very seriously," she wrote. Read On The Fox News App Although she did not mention Axios' Alex Thompson and CNN's Jake Tapper's new book by name, she called out what she referred to as recent "noise" from "fake news" about Biden. "The noise is so DAMN disrespectful and untrue… AND, it's just that - noise/static - created by those committed to perpetuating and profiting from some real BS. Get lost with your anonymous sources and fake news," Ashley Biden wrote. She added that she was grateful for the support her family had received after the former president's prostate cancer diagnosis was revealed last month. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Ashley Biden's comments came a few weeks after Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden rebuked the book directly in an X post. "Just read a copy of this silly book, and if anyone is curious for a review from someone who lived it first-hand: this book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class. The ones who rarely enter the arena, but profit from the spectacle of those that do. Put simply, it amounts to a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck," Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's daughter, wrote. She claimed the book relied on "unnamed, anonymous sources pushing a self-serving false narrative." Thompson and Tapper's book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," revealed efforts by his administration to allegedly cover up Biden's mental and physical decline while in article source: Ashley Biden slams reporting about her dad's mental acuity as 'disrespectful and untrue'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Cohen, Jackson urge Trump to reconsider pardons denied by Biden
Five individuals who sought pardons from former President Biden are calling for his clemency decisions to be reexamined amid fresh debate over his mental sharpness while in office. Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, rabbi and former political candidate Michael Rothenberg, cardiologist Michael Jones and radio host Warren Ballentine outlined in an op-ed published by The Hill on Monday that they completed the process to apply for pardons under the Biden administration but were ultimately denied. All five were convicted of nonviolent federal crimes dating back to 2013, and all five are asking President Trump to reconsider their pardon requests. 'Biden's pardons of close associates and family members raised serious ethical and legal concerns, particularly when others in similar situations were denied pardons,' the five wrote in an op-ed for The Hill. 'The issue at hand was not about his legal right to grant pardons, but whether his cognitive condition affected the integrity of such decisions,' they added. 'This is particularly noteworthy since Biden used the full Nixon-era formula in granting 'full, complete, absolute and unconditional' pardons to members of his family, covering a lengthy period of time and without citing any specific alleged wrongdoing on their part.' Jackson said in an interview that his push for reconsideration extended to roughly 70 million Americans who had served their sentences doled out by judges and now find themselves in a 'perpetual state of felonization' where it can be difficult to find a job or get housing. The op-ed comes as fresh reporting and new books, including 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' have reignited debate about Biden's mental acuity while in office and whether he experienced cognitive decline. A Biden spokesperson told The Hill that the former president and his team thoughtfully reviewed requests for pardons and commutations and pointed to Biden issuing more than 2,500 individual acts of clemency. Biden issued more than 80 pardons during his four years in office, and he commuted the sentences of thousands of individuals. The vast majority of his acts of clemency were granted to nonviolent offenders, including numerous individuals who had been charged with nonviolent drug offenses. But some of his more controversial uses of the pardon power came toward the end of his term. Biden granted a full pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who had been found guilty on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. Hunter Biden had been a political target for Republicans throughout his father's time in office. Former President Biden also granted blanket pardons in the final moments of his term to five family members and several former government officials who had been the targets of political attacks from Trump and his allies. Biden and his allies have staunchly and repeatedly refuted claims that others in the building were making major decisions or that Biden lacked the mental and physical sharpness to carry out his duties. Jackson, the son of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, served 17 years in Congress before resigning in 2012 amid a criminal probe. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to conspiring to defraud his reelection campaign of roughly $750,000 and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal tax crimes, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. He later became a witness in President Trump's 2024 criminal trial over an alleged hush money scheme. Ballentine was convicted of fraud in 2013. An appeals court dismissed his appeal in 2016. Rothenberg was sentenced in 2014 on a charge of wire fraud connected to his campaign for a seat on the DeKalb County, Ga., Superior Court. Jones was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. 'No one disputes the president's constitutional discretion in wielding the pardon power. But pardons must be given fairly, justly, free of undue influence,' the five wrote in their op-ed. In an interview Monday, Jackson told The Hill that he did not submit a formal pardon application under the Obama administration or the first Trump administration, though he did reach out to then-Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, a former colleague in the House, in the waning weeks of Trump's first term. Jesse Jackson Jr. noted that many pardon recipients have not submitted formal pardon applications, either. In addition to Jackson's application, his father wrote to Biden last December urging a complete and unconditional pardon for his son. Jackson's pardon application was denied on Biden's final day in office, and he was encouraged to reapply under the incoming administration. To be sure, President Trump has further exacerbated questions about presidential clemency power and how it can disproportionately benefit those with connections to the administration. Trump during his first term used clemency powers on political allies such as Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. Already in his second term, Trump has pardoned a former Republican congressman who was charged with fraud, commuted the federal sentence of a notorious Chicago gang leader and pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted on bank fraud and tax evasion charges and whose daughter spoke at last summer's Republican National Convention. Trump also pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office. Jackson's argument is that those convicted of federal offenses or who pleaded guilty to federal offenses must carry the social and economic costs of 'felonization' well beyond their time served. Jackson asserted that Trump could take sweeping executive clemency action that would be worthy of international recognition. 'We'd like Donald Trump to reinstate every pardon application that Joe Biden did not review, because he only reviewed clearly his family's,' Jackson told The Hill. 'This is the path to the Nobel Peace Prize,' Jackson added. 'How many people can you help without Congress, without the courts? These people will be forever grateful to him.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Cohen, Jackson Jr. urge Trump to reconsider pardons denied by Biden
Five individuals who sought pardons from former President Biden are calling for his clemency decisions to be reexamined amid fresh debate over his mental sharpness while in office. Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, rabbi and former venture capitalist Michael Rothenberg, cardiologist Michael Jones and radio host Warren Ballentine outlined in an op-ed published by The Hill on Monday that they completed the process to apply for pardons under the Biden administration but were ultimately denied. All five were convicted of nonviolent federal crimes dating back to 2013, and all five are asking President Trump to reconsider their pardon requests. 'Biden's pardons of close associates and family members raised serious ethical and legal concerns, particularly when others in similar situations were denied pardons,' the five wrote in an op-ed for The Hill. 'The issue at hand was not about his legal right to grant pardons, but whether his cognitive condition affected the integrity of such decisions,' they added. 'This is particularly noteworthy since Biden used the full Nixon-era formula in granting 'full, complete, absolute and unconditional' pardons to members of his family, covering a lengthy period of time and without citing any specific alleged wrongdoing on their part.' Jackson said in an interview that his push for reconsideration extended to roughly 70 million Americans who had served their sentences doled out by judges and now find themselves in a 'perpetual state of felonization' where it can be difficult to find a job or get housing. The op-ed comes as fresh reporting and new books, including 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' have reignited debate about Biden's mental acuity while in office and whether he experienced cognitive decline. A Biden spokesperson told The Hill that the former president and his team thoughtfully reviewed requests for pardons and commutations and pointed to Biden issuing more than 2,500 individual acts of clemency. Biden issued more than 80 pardons during his four years in office, and he commuted the sentences of thousands of individuals. The vast majority of his acts of clemency were granted to nonviolent offenders, including numerous individuals who had been charged with nonviolent drug offenses. But some of his more controversial use of the pardon power came toward the end of his term. Biden granted a full pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who had been found guilty on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. Hunter Biden had been a political target for Republicans throughout his father's time in office. Then-President Biden also granted blanket pardons in the final moments of his term to five family members and several former government officials who had been the targets of political attacks from Trump and his allies. Biden and his allies have staunchly and repeatedly refuted claims that others in the building were making major decisions or that Biden lacked the mental and physical sharpness to carry out his duties. Jackson Jr., the son of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, served 17 years in Congress before resigning in 2012 amid a criminal probe. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to conspiring to defraud his reelection campaign of roughly $750,000 and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal tax crimes, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. He later became a witness in President Trump's 2024 criminal trial over an alleged hush money scheme. Ballentine was convicted of fraud in 2013. An appeals court dismissed his appeal in 2016. Rothenberg was convicted in 2023 on multiple money launder and fraud charges. Jones was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. 'No one disputes the president's constitutional discretion in wielding the pardon power. But pardons must be given fairly, justly, free of undue influence,' the five wrote in their op-ed. In an interview Monday, Jackson Jr. told The Hill that he did not submit a formal pardon application under the Obama administration or the first Trump administration, though he did reach out to then-Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, a former colleague in the House, in the waning weeks of Trump's first term. Jackson Jr. noted that many pardon recipients have not submitted formal pardon applications, either. In addition to Jackson Jr.'s application, Jesse Jackson Sr. wrote to Biden last December urging a complete and unconditional pardon for his son. Jackson Jr.'s pardon application was denied on Biden's final day in office, and he was encouraged to reapply under the incoming administration. To be sure, President Trump has further exacerbated questions about presidential clemency power and how it can disproportionately benefit those with connections to the administration. Trump during his first term used clemency powers on political allies like Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. Already in his second term, Trump has pardoned a former Republican congressman who was charged with fraud, commuted the federal sentence of a notorious Chicago gang leader and pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted on bank fraud and tax evasion charges and whose daughter spoke at last summer's Republican National Convention. Trump also pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office. Jackson Jr.'s argument is that those convicted of federal offenses or who pleaded guilty to federal offenses must carry the social and economic costs of 'felonization' well beyond their time served. Jackson Jr. asserted that Trump could take sweeping executive clemency action that would be worthy of international recognition. 'We'd like Donald Trump to reinstate every pardon application that Joe Biden did not review, because he only reviewed clearly his family's,' Jackson Jr. told The Hill. 'This is the path to the Nobel Peace Prize,' Jackson Jr. added. 'How many people can you help without Congress, without the courts? These people will be forever grateful to him.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Opinion - Too little, too late: A media in crisis blames Democrats for the Biden cover-up
In May 2025, days before it was announced that former President Biden had been diagnosed with cancer, NBC ran a sensational headline: 'Biden didn't recognize George Clooney at June fundraiser: new book.' It cited 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' co-authored by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson, detailing how the president's team concealed his cognitive and physical decline — and raising ethical questions about transparency. Tapper now claims that the White House 'was lying … to the press, the public, their own Cabinet.' But as a journalist, Tapper's surprise is both revealing and disingenuous. His book shifts blame to Democrats, ignoring how the media aided the cover-up. It's the latest in a string of reputation-saving moves from a media industry in crisis. Credibility in journalism — hard to earn, easy to lose — once demanded rigorous objectivity. Olivia Nuzzi was fired from The New Yorker merely for private contact with RFK Jr., not even for proven bias. But such standards already seem archaic. During COVID-19, CNN's Chris Cuomo used his show to flatter his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), masking Andrew's deadly mismanagement of nursing homes and corruption, behind jokes about Q-tips. The abandonment of objectivity accelerated with Donald Trump's rise. In 2016, New York Times writer Jim Rutenberg and Univision's Jorge Ramos argued objectivity should give way to moral clarity. But this rationalization led to partisan reporting, such as the Russiagate exaggerations and slanted pandemic coverage. In trying to 'save democracy,' journalists undermined the very pillar that sustains it. By Biden's inauguration, the press seemed to have learned nothing. CNN's David Chalian likened spotlights to Biden's 'arms embracing America.' Wolf Blitzer said Biden 'put his soul' into his speech. NBC's Chuck Todd dubbed him 'the Better Angels president.' Meanwhile, the media dismissed or mocked concerns about Biden's mental acuity, even as video evidence suggested otherwise. Biden confused even basic facts — calling himself the 'first Black woman' to serve in the White House and declaring that 'I wouldn't have picked vice president Trump to be vice president,' not to mention his glitch at a concert and his lack of focus at a G-7 event. Each time, the press downplayed the issue. MSNBC dismissed cognitive concerns as 'hysteria' and used terms like 'cheap fakes' to discredit video evidence. Others, such as The View's Whoopi Goldberg, dismissed the importance of the president's cognitive abilities, and exclaimed that she does not care 'if he's pooped his pants,' she is voting for him anyway. Similarly, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough responded to those questioning Biden's cognitive ability with an 'F you' on the air. Scarborough had argued a mere three months before the debate that Biden 'is far beyond cogent … in fact, I think he is better than he has ever been,' and this is 'the best Biden ever.' This dismissal continued even after a Department of Justice investigator, Robert Hur, described Biden as a 'well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.' In response, media personalities attacked Hur instead of engaging with the facts. However, now new audio has leaked of the interviews, giving weight to Hur's contention that Biden behaved like an unfocused and confused elder. Biden's disastrous June 2024 debate, where he blanked mid-sentence and claimed 'We finally beat Medicare,' ended the charade. He soon dropped out. When Kamala Harris's chaotic campaign also failed, media credibility cratered. MSNBC lost 61 percent of its key demographic post-election, while audiences turned to outlets like MeidasTouch. In response, some journalists tried rebranding. Chris Cuomo adopted populist critiques of both parties, conveniently forgetting his own CNN record. Tapper, meanwhile, portrays himself as deceived, positioning his book as a reckoning. But 'Original Sin' evades the real question: did this cover-up begin before the election? The answer is yes — and Tapper was part of it. Concerns about Biden's cognition emerged well before 2020. During a 2019 debate, Julián Castro asked the president if he was 'forgetting' his own statements. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) publicly worried about Biden's ability to 'carry the ball' without 'fumbling.' Yet the press framed criticisms as attacks on a childhood stutter. Around that same time, journalist Ryan Grim described Biden's debate performance as 'staggeringly incoherent.' -The press failed to adequately address these concerns until five years later. Even by 2020, the year of the election, the red flags were impossible to miss. Biden fabricated stories about being in a war zone, called a voter 'fat' for no apparent reason, told Charlamagne Tha God 'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black' and misnamed his own campaign website as 'Joe 3-0-3-3-0' instead of These were just a few of the many moments, captured on video and widely shared on YouTube, that fueled concerns about Biden's cognitive decline before he ever took office. Tapper's interviews, so far, have conveniently sidestepped the question of whether this cover-up started before the election. For example, in 2020, just prior to the election, Lara Trump raised Biden's cognitive issues on Tapper's show. Tapper responded by dismissing her assertion, and scolded her for making children who stutter feel bad. The media knew Biden's mental decline was an issue in 2019. By 2020, it was impossible to ignore. But fearing a Bernie Sanders upset in the primary, Democrats and their media allies closed ranks. Tapper's post-facto outrage avoids this context — and his own complicity. Journalism isn't stenography. Blaming sources for lying ignores the journalist's job: to interrogate power, not merely repeat it. The public deserves better than a press that performs truth only when it's convenient. Now, with Trump back in office, journalists claim they'll be watchdogs again. But the public isn't buying it — not after watching the media abandon objectivity when it mattered most. Credibility, once lost, isn't easily reclaimed. And the damage isn't just to journalism, it's to democracy itself. Nolan Higdon is a founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Project Censored National Judge and university lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. All of his work is available at Substack. He is the author of 'The Anatomy of Fake News: A Critical News Literacy Education,' 'Let's Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy' and 'The Media And Me: A Guide To Critical Media Literacy For Young People.' Higdon is a regular source of expertise for CBS, NBC, The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
