Legacy media outlets spent much of the first half of 2024 insisting President Biden was still sharp and claimed videos suggesting otherwise were “cheap fakes.”
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Legacymediaoutletsspentmuchofthefirsthalfof2024insistingPresidentBidenwasstillsharpandclaimedvideossuggestingotherwisewere“cheapfakes”untilhisdisastrousdebateperformanceforcedanimmediateabout-face.
Inoneofthebiggestmediastoriesoftheyear,multiplelegacyoutletswereleftwitheggontheirfacesaftercreatingyetanothercredibilitycrisisforthefourthestate.
ThemedialargelyseethedinFebruaryafterthereleaseofSpecialCounselRobertHur’sdamningreport onBiden’shandlingofclassifieddocumentsthatdescribedhimasa“sympathetic,well-meaning,elderlymanwithapoormemory.”
TheNewYorkTimeswentwiththe“Republicanspounce”framingwhencoveringBiden’sreportedmemoryissues,JeffreyToobinreturnedtoCNNtoinsistHurmade“unnecessarypoints”aboutBiden’sadvancedage,andMSNBC’sRachelMaddowgushedthateverythingisfinebec
