The mainstream press being full of partisans is not exactly a novel discovery, but sometimes a piece comes along that is so brazen that it even surprises me. Jonathan Chait's latest over at The Atlantic fits that bill. We aren't just talking about typical levels of left-wing bias. What ended up published crosses the line into outright sociopathy. 

Entitled, "The Hypocrisy of Fetterman's Defenders," the premise isn't about the years on end that "journalists" like Chait spent defending Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), claiming he was perfectly mentally capable to ensure Democrats kept control of the Senate. Instead, it accuses the right of committing that sin. 

This is an artist painting his masterpiece, and I want to start from the beginning because in the first paragraph, Chait's laughable level of hypocrisy is already laid bare.

Remember the days after President Joe Biden’s barely coherent debate performance, when Democratic dead-enders insisted that nothing was the matter? That was embarrassing. But apparently it wasn’t so embarrassing that everybody took away the correct lesson, because something similar is now happening between Senator John Fetterman and a coterie of admirers on the right. Conservatives are now doing the exact same thing that the Biden defenders did: denying the obvious unfitness of a politician because he’s politically useful.

Did you catch the sleight of hand there? According to Chait, it wasn't discovered that Joe Biden was a mental invalid, completely incapable of carrying out the duties of the presidency, until his disastrous late-June debate performance during the 2024 presidential election. Based on that framing, he now wants credit for not continuing the charade and turning to Kamala Harris as an alternative. 

Is that accurate, though? Not even close. Biden was demonstrating his senility for years before that. Hundreds of different examples were chronicled of him forgetting the names of his cabinet members, getting lost on stages, falling asleep during meetings, slurring his words continually, and even mixing up his wife and sister at one point. It was not honesty that motivated Chait to turn on Biden after the debate. It was political expediency rooted in his belief that the former president could not beat then-candidate Donald Trump. 

If you want proof of that, look no further than Chait's response to Biden's train-wreck of a presser in February 2024 following the release of Robert Hur's report. Recall that the former special counsel had accused the then-president of memory loss and incoherence while answering questions. How did Chait respond? By insisting it was a "pretty good performance" and dismissing Biden confusing the President of Egypt with the President of Mexico as a "who cares" moment.

I share the concern about Biden's age, but IMO the Mexico comment is a who-cares. Non-old people make mistakes like that off the cuff all the time.

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) February 9, 2024

SEE: Worst Media Defenses of Biden's Disastrous Hur Report Presser

Returning to Fetterman, none of what is happening is new. We are talking about a guy who opened his 2022 debate by saying "Good night, everybody" before spending the next hour demonstrating his complete incoherence. How did Chait respond? By insisting his condition was temporary and attacking Republicans who said he wasn't fit for office.

Jonathan, would you call this a dismissal of his mental health struggles?

Your shamelessness is also bottomless. pic.twitter.com/xt72BKz1Wg

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 11, 2025

When people pointed out that Chait's article was shameless, lacking basic self-awareness, he then tried to draw a distinction between what we saw in 2022 and what is reportedly happening with Fetterman today. 

None of the critics of this piece have read it, but they continue to conflate his stroke with his subsequent mental health breakdown and refusal to be treated https://t.co/dMfZ73lk7x

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) May 11, 2025

Let's be clear. There is no actual distinction to be made here, and Chaits's attempt to manufacture one is again rooted in political convenience. There was no reason to believe that Fetterman's condition was "temporary" in 2022, which was demonstrated by the fact that he ended up in the hospital a month after being sworn in. If anything, Fetterman has become more coherent in 2025, though he clearly still has issues. To pretend it was perfectly reasonable to defend him when he was running for the Senate but isn't today is insane, countered by all available evidence. 

In his piece, Chait admits no wrongdoing regarding the cover-up of Biden's senility while pretending he has the credibility to lecture people on the right for holding Democrats to the standard they set. To be clear, I don't think anyone currently defending Fetterman thinks he's a picture of health, though again, he's more capable today than he was when he was elected. What they think is that Chait and his cohorts are only noticing his issues now because he's become a political liability for the left, and that's obviously true. Claims to the contrary are simply sociopathic dishonesty dressed up as real concern.

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