The aftershocks continue to be felt across the media landscape. Joe Biden’s historically horrid debate performance has thrown the election prospects into flux, has the Democrat party in disarray, and caused the White House to go into fire drill scenarios. All the while, another offshoot has been the complete exposure of the news complex in this country operating as a misinformation factory for the sake of protecting President Biden.
The main component has been the very recent history of news outlets denigrating any evidence of Biden’s eroding condition, only to be supremely exposed by the president proving all of the speculation was accurate, live on camera. But the recent “cheap fakes” deflection narrative has just been the most recent example, while many exist.
The Wall Street Journal was raked for its extensive (and proven accurate) report concerning numerous political figures commenting on how impacted they witnessed Biden to be. Look at the way the press collectively recoiled with the release of the Robert Hur report declaring Biden to be too unfit to sit before a jury. Hur was the focus of criticism and bile for what was his decision to essentially free Biden from prosecution, but he dared to be honest about the president’s condition - an unforgivable sin that precluded journalism curiosity.
These positions by the press have led to the industry suffering severe hits to its already debilitated reputation, but there is yet another aspect exposing the subterfuge. Following the debate the Biden campaign had him appear in Wisconsin to speak not only at an event but to sit for select interviews. As we covered, it has been learned that two of the radio reporters Biden spoke with had been fed questions ahead of time.
Both Andrea Lawful-Sanders of WURD in Philadelphia and Earl Ingram of Civic Media in Milwaukee let it be known they were supplied the questions for their interviews with Biden. (This did not help out the optics, as Biden was heard calling himself "the first black woman to serve with a black president.") In the aftermath, the White House has issued denials, declaring this to be a decision from the Biden campaign, as if that is a distinction that changes anything.
Biden campaign spokesperson response was the "White House did not manage the process or the questions."
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 6, 2024
"This was a campaign interview and, as such, it was handled by the campaign and our Black Media Director. To overcommunicate, the White House Black media director was not…
The issue is the compliance seen from the press to do the bidding of protecting this president. Lawful-Sanders and Ingram indicated they may have had other issues to explore but seemed hemmed in by the supplied queries, the inference becoming they felt they had to stay on point in order to have this access
The reality of prearranged questions during choreographed press conferences is something that has been on display for years, and the media outlets have been in denial each time the president reveals the coordination. Biden has repeatedly been captured on camera sporting note cards with everything from directions for him to follow to pictures and names of reporters. But more revelatory have been the times he has displayed notes with a clear forward notice of questions coming from those in the press corps.
The most blatant example occurred last year when Biden exposed a card that featured Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian both by name and image. But more than this, it also had a question included, one that was eventually asked by the reporter once called upon in the order she appeared. CNN attempted to massage this exposed reality, positing that it could simply be a sign that Biden is “just supremely prepared” - despite Subramanian’s question being in line with what Biden was prepped to expect.
The Los Angeles Times and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered up some tepid denials at the time, but the paper, the reporter, the White House, and the WHCA all walked away from what was so obvious: The reporter was named, pictured, scheduled, called upon, delivered the preset question, and received a scripted response.
That Biden is in need of these orchestrated encounters is one issue, but the very fact the press has been shown to repeatedly play along with this arrangement is problematic. In May there was a joint presser held with the President of Kenya, William Ruto, and the ersatz nature of these rare media moments was on display. While the leaders fielded questions, Biden’s responses were so inorganic that the plotting was more than obvious.
Biden delivered lengthy, multi-paragraph answers that were obviously supplied to him, with the president not even looking up as he read the ponderous responses provided. Also noted was one exchange with McClatchy reporter Michael Wilner, where Biden defiantly told him he could only ask one question before reading off his prepared response about a Haitian issue. As Wilner attempted a second question involving Gaza, Biden turned testy with the reporter: “Look, we made my position known – You guys never keep the deal.”
This was not the only example of Biden tipping his hand that the White House beat reporters are directed frequently. During a press conference with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 Summit, where Biden delivered a number of questionable performances that launched the “cheap fakes” narrative, one press conference saw Biden become annoyed at reporters’ questions and again let slip that there are parameters put in place for them to follow. “I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit,” he said, clearly bothered.
This exchange led to some conservative outlets and many on social media picking up on his revealing an arranged relationship with the pool reporters. This time it was blatant enough to force the hand of WHCA President Kelly O’Donnell to come out with an official statement.
Our WHCA statement following the president’s press conference in Italy today. pic.twitter.com/hBprZu48YV
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) June 13, 2024
This was clearly a face-saving attempt, with O’Donnell needing to go on record as disavowing what has long been established as a coordinated relationship with the administration and the press. These examples show the willingness to play along with the script, and it only further damages the credibility of a news industry that is foundering alongside the fortunes of the Democrats in this election.
This is the same journalism complex attempting to claim they were duped by the administration about Biden’s condition. These same outlets tried to bury the details on the president, crafted the weak explanation that unaltered videos of Biden's decline of Biden were fakes, and even lashed out at those who accurately detailed the reality. They've long shown a willingness to play along with mandates from the administration.
