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White House Demands the Media Stop Talking About Biden's Mental Decline

By Ben Kew | 1:55 PM on February 14, 2024The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.


AP Photo/Evan Vucci
The White House is not happy with the media's recent coverage of Joe Biden.

CNN reported this week that a spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office, Ian Sams, sent a letter to the White House Correspondents Association criticizing the legacy media's coverage of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Joe Biden’s handling of classified material.

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The report, which was made publicly available last week, concluded that Biden had likely committed a crime in his handling of classified materials but that his age, memory, and declining health meant that a prosecution would not be in the public interest. Among its findings was that Biden would repeatedly forget when his son Beau had passed away, indicating a significant decline in his mental capacity.

In his letter to the WHCA, Sams said that “covering the report is challenging" due to its length and intricacy. However, the letter criticizes Hur over his “wrong and inappropriate personal comments have distracted from due attention to the substance.”

"But those facts stress the importance of careful, patient coverage,” Sams wrote. “Instead, many outlets have reported striking inaccuracies that misrepresent the report’s conclusion about the President, and reporters in the White House Briefing Room have asked questions that include false content or are based on false premises.”

According to CNN, the White House had also argued privately with reporters over the tone of their coverage but had had "limited success."

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The report explained:

Sams’ letter is yet another step White House officials have taken to push back against press narratives about the report. On Friday, Sams appeared in the briefing room, taking questions from journalists about Hur’s report. And CNN has learned that over the last several days, officials with the White House and the president’s personal counsel have been sparring behind the scenes with reporters about their coverage, with limited success.

CNN also acknowledged the significant damage that the report has caused:

The aggressive defense mounted by the White House reflects the growing realization inside Biden-world about the damage that Hur’s report has caused. Not only has Biden’s age and mental acuity become a hotly discussed topic because of Hur’s remarks, but the notion Biden willfully mishandled national secrets has seeped into the public consciousness. Reversing that will be tough.

The White House, of course, knows that it will not be successful in getting news organizations to walk back previous coverage. But it hopes that it can at least persuade outlets to be more cautious and nuanced while covering the story moving forward.

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Of course, what the White House really wants is for the liberal media, which typically operates as the Biden White House's propaganda arm, to stop talking about Biden's declining health and indications that he may even be suffering from a degenerative disease, such as dementia.

Sadly, however, those questions are not going away. Although Biden appears to have a lock on the party's nomination, growing numbers of left-wing voices and thought leaders are expressing concern over whether he can both defeat Donald Trump and serve out a second term in office. Yet, with his mental capacity seemingly worsening by the day, those questions are not going to go away.