As you now know, yesterday the Wall Street Journal published a report about what we already knew but that Democrats and media decided to be complicit in: That President Biden's decline became so problematic for the White House that they had to take many measures to help try and hide the reality. Those measures included accusing the Right of putting out "cheap fakes" of Biden that were, in fact, just actual videos of Biden.
From the WSJ:
To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members—including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s Lloyd Austin and Treasury’s Janet Yellen—were infrequent or grew less frequent. Some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president’s ear at key moments, including ahead of the U.S.’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
Senior advisers were often put into roles that some administration officials and lawmakers thought Biden should occupy, with people such as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, senior counselor Steve Ricchetti and National Economic Council head Lael Brainard and her predecessor frequently in the position of being go-betweens for the president.
Press aides who compiled packages of news clips for Biden were told by senior staff to exclude negative stories about the president. The president wasn’t talking to his own pollsters as surveys showed him trailing in the 2024 race.
That last part might help explain why Biden seemed to think that most Americans thought he was actually doing a great job.
But guess what subject didn't even arise at today's White House briefing:
Reporters did not ask Karine Jean-Pierre a single question about The Wall Street Journal report from yesterday that outlined how the White House hid President Joe Biden's cognitive decline from the public.
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 20, 2024
Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich helped explain why that question wasn't asked:
some of us (ahem 🙋🏼♀️) never got the chance https://t.co/dBuNG5YOI0
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) December 20, 2024
We're sure that Jean-Pierre would have had some sort of absolute lie ready to go just in case.
You almost always get the chance to ask questions,
— Kristina (@Blissfuljoy22) December 20, 2024
Please be fair @JacquiHeinrich
To be fair - if my job were to speak for the President I’d be seizing the chance to swat down that report! Odd that she didn’t, imo
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) December 20, 2024
Maybe KJP's getting tired of defending the indefensible. But it's amazing that none of the other reporters thought the WSJ story was worth bringing up.
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