The Biden White House and his defenders on the left and in the MSM have been fond of saying in recent months that though Joe Biden frequently bumbles, mumbles, and just in general sounds wildly incoherent and out of it during public speaking engagements, he is razor sharp behind the scenes.

We saw a lot of this type of "rallying around the president" from The Usual Suspects in February in the aftermath of the very damning Hur Report, where Special Counsel Robert Hur observed that "Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

For instance, impeached DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas said in an NBC News interview a short time after the report was released that "The most difficult part about a meeting with President Biden is preparing for it because he is sharp, intensely probing, and detail-oriented, and focused."

READ MORE: Alejandro Mayorkas Has an Astonishing Baghdad Bob Moment When Questioned About Hur Report

It was gaslighting on steroids then, and it is now as well amid the pushback on a Wall Street Journal story from last Tuesday that detailed how Biden was "slipping" even more when the cameras weren't rolling:

Participants in private meetings with 81-year-old President Biden say he has shown signs of slipping. The White House says he’s sharp and his critics are playing partisan politics. https://t.co/niiogqMxst https://t.co/niiogqMxst

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 5, 2024

Among the WSJ report's most vocal critics have been the Biden apologists at MSDNC including the cast of characters that comprises the "Morning Joe" show, which threw a hissy fit in the immediate aftermath. Co-host Joe Scarborough event went so far as to laughably proclaim, "If you want to talk about international affairs, if you want to talk about how to get bipartisan legislation, Joe Biden is light years ahead of all of them!" 

Not to be outdone, a week later as the crew was still trying to downplay the story as it continued to gain traction, co-host Willie Geist also declared that the report was "filled with problems" and that he and others at the network had "dissembled" its claims. 

The tell was at the end of the segment, where Politico's Jonathan Lemire whined about how "more and more people" were getting their news from non-traditional sources (you know, the ones that aren't wholly subservient to Democrats), while bemoaning the fact that the WSJ story "with all of its flaws" got through to people:

MSNBC’s ⁦@WillieGeist⁩ claims the WSJ report featuring interviews with dozens of people who say Biden is just as senile off camera as he is on camera has been debunked & was “filled with problems” pic.twitter.com/RUerBrrXb3

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 12, 2024

Got that? This isn't really about any alleged "flaws" in the WSJ report. This is really about the fact that "news" outlets like MSNBC and Politico don't have a stranglehold on setting narratives in terms of what stories people see anymore and how those stories typically get framed.

Because if they did, there's a strong likelihood Joe Biden would be in much better shape when it comes to polling and public perception because the only stories voters would hear about as it relates to Biden and the Democrats are the ones their media allies would spoonfeed to readers and viewers.

I don't care how many "flaws" that report supposedly has. Even if it does, it doesn't negate what we see with our own eyes every day about Joe Biden. Exhibit A:

“Where’s Jackie?” Biden asks, referring to Rep. Jackie Walorski, who died in a car accident in August.

The WH was going to play a tribute video to her during this event. pic.twitter.com/FXZKmqEBW0

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) September 28, 2022

There's much more from where that came, but for now, I rest my case.

Flashback-->> Opinion: It’s Time to Address the Cruelty of Jill Biden