One of the toughest parts of being a political commentator is trying to figure out whether the people I’m critiquing truly lack any and all self-awareness or if they are just dishonest hacks, willing to go to absurd lengths to gaslight Americans. Unfortunately, it’s typically the latter, and that’s the assumption I’m forced to make about Sunday’s “Face the Nation” roundtable.
During a segment in which the year’s most “under-reported” stories are discussed, Jan Crawford spoke up to state the obvious about President Joe Biden’s long-standing senility.
GARRETT: One of the things we also do in the year-end correspondent’s roundtable is dig into what was undercovered or what was under-reported. Jan?
CRAWFORD: Under-covered and under-reported. That would be Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline that became undeniable in the televised debate.
GARRETT: At the presidential debate with Donald Trump.
CRAWFORD: Unquestioned, and you know, it’s starting to emerge now that his advisors kind of managed his limitations, it’s been reported in The Wall Street Journal, for four years, and yet he insisted that he could still run for president. We should have much more forcibly questioned whether he was fit for office for another four years, which could have led to a primary for the Democrats. It could have changed the scope of the entire election.
Yet, still, incredibly, we read in the Washington Post that his advisors that he regrets that he dropped out of the race. You know, that he thinks he could have beaten Trump, and I think that is either delusional or their gaslighting everyone.
There’s more, including Robert Costa once again proving he’s a true hack’s hack by pushing back on Crawford, but I want to address the insinuation that the presidential debate in June was the moment Biden’s cognitive decline was revealed. Anyone who reads RedState knows that’s nonsense. Over the last four years, I wrote far more articles than I cared to about Biden’s very public mental collapses, which seemed to occur multiple times a day (when he was hidden off in Delaware) in the last few years of his term.
We are talking about a guy who called out during a speech for a woman who had been dead for a month. A woman who the White House had previously claimed Biden was mourning. To undersell things, there were signs.
SEE: Joe Biden Searches Room for Deceased Congresswoman During Incredibly Awkward Moment
So while Crawford does state “we should have much more forcibly questioned” Biden’s decline, she pretends that all of this is some new revelation brought about by a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy a mainstream press outlet reported on just how bad things were behind the scenes, that also is not a new revelation.
Biden’s handlers literally gave him notated cheat sheets before press conferences, complete with pre-selected lists of reporters to call on. In some cases, he was even given the questions beforehand. They would meticulously map out the president’s path on and off various stages, not for security reasons, but because he continually got confused. At other times, Biden would simply wander off, having to be escorted back by various world leaders.
None of this was a grand mystery. It was beyond clear what was happening, yet the press not only ignored all of it, but they chastized anyone who pointed it out as pushing “cheap fakes.” So yeah, it’s a bit rich to see “Face the Nation” finally cover how under-reported Biden’s senility was without mentioning they weren’t responsible.
The “hot dog man” meme has come to life.
— Katsu Sando (@SandoKatsuZilla) December 30, 2024
But while Crawford at least got to the truth, even if it was far too late for absolution, Bob Costa decided he was going to go for the gold of pure hackery.
COSTA: The President has said repeatedly he was sick during the debate, June 27th in Atlanta, and he leaves fine. That is his position, the position of many of his top aides even though there is that reporting.
He leaves fine? Is this guy serious? I mean, I guess Biden hasn’t died so that’s something, but that’s not exactly the standard for how functional a president is in office. It just goes to show that some members of the press are true believers and will never admit how much they misled the American public for partisan gain.
