Ex-NY Times executive editor blasts DC reporters for roles in Biden ‘cover-up’: ‘Simply astounding’
Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson blasted journalists in Washington, D.C. for failing to “hold power accountable” — and participating in a “massive cover-up” with the White House to shield President Biden’s “decline.”
“It is our duty to poke through White House smoke screens and find out the truth,” Abramson told Semafor.
“The Biden White House clearly succeeded in a massive cover-up of the degree of the President’s feebleness and his serious physical decline, which may be simply the result of old age.
“Shame on the White House press corps for not to have [sic] pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding the President,” she continued, while conceding that it would be “a super hard story” to land with solid Democratic sourcing.
Still, the ex-Times editor, who was executive editor at the left-leaning publication from 2011-2014, said she believes ‘if enough reporters had pushed, the story was reportable.
Abramson added that she worries too many journalists “didn’t try to get the story” out of fear of being “accused of helping elect Donald Trump.”
But the 81-year-old President Biden should still be “held accountable for his obvious lapses of mental acuity, even if there are periods of lucidity,” she declared.
“It is simply astounding for the entire country, including its most seasoned reporters, to be as shocked as everyone was by the ugly and painful reality of Biden’s debate performance,” Abramson said.
Abramson also called it “laughable and immoral for Democrats to blame the press now for over-reacting to that reality.”
Biden, meanwhile, will host Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday for an all-hands-on-deck meeting to address his flailing candidacy — and will seek to shore up support with his party’s leaders in Congress as well.
However, at least 25 House Democrats are also reportedly preparing to call for the president to step aside and allow a successor to take his place on the 2024 ticket, with one aide saying “the dam has broken” on speaking out after a handful of lawmakers came forward on Tuesday with reservations.
What to know about the fallout from President Biden's debate performance:
- President Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate has left even some Democrats unsure of his fitness for office and future as the party’s candidate.
- Former President Obama admitted that Biden had a “bad” debate, while his rival former President Trump suggested that he was in a “trance” and “choked.”
- Biden told a crowd at a North Carolina rally the day after the debate that he doesn’t “debate as well as I used to” — but insisted that he can still “do this job.”
- The New York Times editorial board called on the president to serve the country by dropping out of the race. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a similar editorial a day later.
- Biden gathered with his family to assess the campaign’s future at Camp David, with his son Hunter reportedly pushing for him to stay in the race. Family members questioned if the president’s top advisors should be fired after the disastrous debate.
- Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein revealed that sources close to Biden have witnessed as many as 20 episodes of cognitive decline in the past year.
- Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) became the first House Democrat to call on Biden to drop out.
The Democratic incumbent delivered a scattered and halting performance during his first debate with opponent Donald Trump last week, causing widespread panic among party lawmakers and operatives.
A little more than a week before the CNN-hosted event in Atlanta, the White House also lashed out at The Post and other outlets for reporting on Biden’s doddering demeanor at the G7 summit in Italy with other world leaders — and being led off-stage by former President Barack Obama after an apparent freeze-up.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said any reporting on Biden’s dithering behavior was right-wing driven “misinformation” based on what she called “cheap fake” videos, straining credulity by implying the footage was deceptively altered.
- Watch Biden’s worst moments during the presidential debate
- Who could replace Joe Biden after disastrous presidential debate?
- Democrats panicked at Biden’s debate debacle — and aren’t fooling anyone as they now pretend everything’s fine
- Trump inches ahead of Biden nationally after prez’s disastrous debate: new poll
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In February, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger also said that the White House had also been “extremely upset” with the paper of record’s coverage of the president’s record-low approval ratings and well-established concerns from voters about his age.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
