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Media ignored Biden’s decline while obsessing over Trump’s health

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23.05.2025

For years, America’s corporate media insisted it was a fearless watchdog, ever-vigilant in its scrutiny of power. But the last four years have shown just how selective that scrutiny can be. While the press hounded President Donald Trump with endless speculation about his mental and physical health-often based on little more than armchair diagnoses and anonymous sources-it offered Joe Biden a protective media cocoon, allowing a shadow presidency to unfold in plain sight.

Now, with Biden no longer seeking re-election and the consequences of his incapacitation impossible to ignore, legacy outlets have suddenly rediscovered the concept of presidential fitness. But this newfound interest isn’t a sign of journalistic integrity-it’s a confession of dereliction. For four years, the press refused to confront the obvious: Joe Biden was not mentally or physically capable of discharging the duties of the presidency. And the American people are still paying the price.

Consider how Trump’s health was covered. From the moment he took office in 2017, a coalition of pundits, columnists, and self-declared experts launched a campaign to paint him as mentally unfit. In February of that year, Forbes published an article spotlighting an online petition signed by tens of thousands of supposed mental health professionals-none of whom were verified-that called for Trump’s removal under the 25th Amendment. The petition, rooted in vague, unsubstantiated claims, set the tone for years of breathless media speculation.

It didn’t stop there. When Trump underwent a routine physical in 2018, The New York Times

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