Robert Reich: Why Isn't the Media Reporting on Trump's Growing Dementia?

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-reich/110894/why-isn-t-the-media-reporting-on-trump-s-growing-dementia

Why Isn’t the Media Reporting on Trump’s Growing Dementia?
by Robert Reich | July 8, 2024 - 6:23am

— from Robert Reich's Substack

Friends,

snip//

I’m no physician, and I have no idea whether Biden or Trump is suffering from early dementia. But the weight of the evidence suggests Trump is. So why isn’t the media covering this?

When I’ve asked members of the media, they say Trump’s malfunctioning brain is “old news.”

After all, in 2017, 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals concluded in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump that Trump’s mental health posed a “clear and present danger” to the nation.

Members of Trump’s own Cabinet — horrified by the January 6, 2021, violence at the Capitol and Trump's lack of urgency in stopping it — discussed whether to invoke the the 25th Amendment to remove him from office due to mental incompetence.

But just because Trump has shown mental instability in the past doesn’t make his mental problems any less relevant now that he is seeking reelection. They’re more relevant. He appears even more delusional than before.

If Biden’s difficulties are fair game, why isn’t Trump’s apparent mental decline front and center?

Biden may appear frail, but he’s rational. The growing evidence of Trump’s dementia and paranoia, on the other hand, poses a clear potential danger to the future of America — if he’s reelected.

At the least, the media should be investigating and reporting on it. Right?

[Blue Owl]

1. K&R

This is the REAL problem in the 2024 election runup

[Lovie777]

2. K & R..........................

[MiHale]

3. Reading his latest 'truth' vomit expulsion it's no wonder he's under wraps...

Insane bull. If he could find a way to capitalize capital letters he’d be all over it.

[wryter2000]

4. When is that debate

going to be "old news"?

[sop]

27. Shelf life for "news" is different for Democrats and Republicans.

[retread]

5. After reading this I'm damn sure not going out fishing in my boat with a battery attached. Because, you know,

electricity and sharks.

[republianmushroom]

6. He is their golden cow.

[sop]

28. More like their golden goose.

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. I've been asking that question

for months now. Why aren't they reporting on that, and the leg dragging, and all of that? But no, they're so focussed on Biden's "bad debate"! /s

[Silent Type]

8. Just searched "trump dementia NYT." Got recent hits in NYT and WaPo.

Here's a January 2024 WaPo headline:

A ‘whale’ of a tale: Trump continues to distort cognitive test he took

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a test aimed at detecting dementia or cognitive decline, never included the combination of animals Trump identified this week

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/19/trump-cognitive-test/
__________

Late Night Trolls Trump Over 'Severe Memory Issues'

NYT June 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/arts/television/late-night-trump-memory.html

__________

Here's NYT article discussion on Biden vs trump's health, 6/24/2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/opinion/biden-trump-health-conditions.html

__________

If you'll keep searching, you'll find Pelosi said trump has dementia on CNN a week ago. Then, FOX picked it up.

Newsweek has a recent article. If you need more, try checking facts because Reich sure didn't.

[TwilightZone]

10. "Why isn't the media covering (insert topic here)" articles and OPs are almost always wrong.

But they sure are popular.

Further, Reich undercuts his own point when he admits that he has no clue if Trump even has dementia. Then, he insists that he does.

[unblock]

19. It's a matter of proportion

It's true that it's a bit of an overstatement to say "the media completely ignored" negative stories about republicans. The very fact that we here on du are aware of such stories is invariably because it appeared in the media at some point somewhere.

But it's they cover bad news for politicians vastly differently depending on the party.

Consider how they dwelled endlessly on the Hillary email crap while hardly mentioning that the entire shrub administration was on a private server for 8 solid years. Yes it was noted from time to time, but it barely registered as news, and as somehow considered irrelevant to the Hillary scandal, even though the scales dwarfed the email traffic on Hillary's server. Not to mention that the media doesn't seem nearly as obsessed with Donnie blatantly stealing very clearly marked classified information, sharing it with people clearly not authorized to see it, etc.

Yes the report on such things, but not in the same way and not to the same extent. Every Hillary email story had an air of how the next revelation could end her career, while Donnie coverage is ho hum, I guess it doesn't matter because he still polls over 90% among republicans.

[misanthrope]

38. I think he is merely trying to move the needle in some way

Trying to slow the frenzy.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

36. A search is required to find bits and pieces about traitortrump's dementia. Not so for concerns about Biden.

[Doc Sportello]

53. LOL

So you found ONE article from six months ago that actually discussed the topic in the mainstream press. The rest is an article about late night TV and a comment from Pelosi. Wow, that really proves that the media coverage is balanced. Sheesh.

How do you have time to do all that volunteering for Biden while searching endlessly for articles that don't prove what you are saying?

[Silent Type]

59. Keep moving the goal posts.

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2024, 12:05 PM - Edit history (1)

[Doc Sportello]

60. I've got some facts for you

From Salon:
he New York Times has run 192 stories on the subject since the debate, including 50 editorials and 142 news stories. The Washington Post, which has also gone for saturation coverage, published a resignation speech they wrote for him. Not to be outdone, the New Yorker’s editor-in-chief declared that Biden not going away “would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment”

192 to your one from six months ago. Almost all having to do with Biden's mental state. Nothing to do with goalposts or any other deflection you try to employ. Repeat, 192 to ONE and that doesn't include CNN or WAPO. Rather than cliche deflections the thing to do is to admit you were wrong in smearing those who point out these facts about the coverage. But I suspect you are not the kind who can do that and it would seem to interfere with your agenda here.

[Doc Sportello]

54. Wow, one whole article that is relevant

So you found ONE article from six months ago that actually discussed the topic in the mainstream press. The rest is an article about late night TV and a comment from Pelosi. Wow, that really proves that the media coverage is balanced. Sheesh.

How do you have time to do all that volunteering for Biden while searching endlessly for articles that don't prove what you are saying?

Reich is a respected commentator and academician. He knows facts a lot more than you do.

[TwilightZone]

9. Probably because there's no proof he's suffering from dementia.

TV diagnosticians aren't proof. Further, Reich first says he doesn't know if Trump has dementia, then insists that he does.

I like Reich, but articles like this accomplish nothing, particularly when the author conclusively undercuts his own point in the article.

There's really no proof Trump has dementia. He certainly could, but a lot of his act is quite intentional, and he's been saying incomprehensible shit for more than a decade.

[Silent Type]

11. +1. Although not a Reich fan because he helped give us trump in 2016 and 3 white wing justices.

His constant bashing of Obama and Clinton over trade right up to election in 2016 helped us fail.

Of course, dementia is not a requirement for being batchit crazy.

[Doc Sportello]

55. Wrong

Reich has been proven right in his criticism of the trade policies. Unless you support massive redistribution of wealth, which it seems you do. And he knows a whole lot more about economics than you do,. And no, he did not "help us fail" in 2016. That's just ludicrous.

[Silent Type]

58. Sorry I disagree. I watched it happen. There's a reason Obama and H Clinton wouldn't use him.

[Doc Sportello]

61. Disagreeing doesn't mean you get make stuff up as facts

I'm sure you can find one who shares your view and you probably think that one equals the fact that Obama used him all the time. Obama did that. And no your opinion or some staffer speaking anonymously does not back up your obviouly false claim.Your attack on Reich as being nonfactual is totally undermined by false claims and false equivalencies.

[Silent Type]

62. He was on Obama's transition team. That was it.

[Doc Sportello]

63. Just stop

You're embarrassing yourself. First you claim that Clinton and Obama didn't use him, now this one line of your opinion - a provably false claim - as supporting this ridiculous claim is absurd.

You know that famous line about silence? Take the advice

[hadEnuf]

16. There's no proof Biden is suffering from dementia either.

TV diagnosticians aren't proof, but that sure isn't stopping the shark frenzy that's going on with Biden.

Biden actually had a physical not too long ago and there were no cognitive problems identified. And the exam wasn't done by an ersatz doctor.

I think that's what Reich may be pointing out.

[hay rick]

12. The media silence is not failure, it is betrayal. nt

[Quanto Magnus]

13. Good luck with that

M$m is run by wealthy conservatives/regressives. They want a horse race and the only way to do it is to keep going after Biden and downplay what TSF says.

[GoodRaisin]

14. One might think the media has a right slant.

[misanthrope]

39. They have a slant toward profits

End of story

[twodogsbarking]

15. Why Isn't the Media Reporting on Trump's Growing Dementia?

Because they aren't allowed?

[Warpy]

17. Same reason they've never reported on his malignant narcissism

tax cuts

[GoCubsGo]

18. Probably for the same reason they're ignoring the Jefferey Epstein documents dump.

They're protecting him so that their billionaire owners can get more tax cuts.

[Rocknation]

20. Because they were effectively colluded, bribed, blackmailed, or scammed

into the hypocrisy of actively reporting about BIDEN'S growing dementia -- especially if this is true:

Link to tweet

Rocktivity

[Shipwack]

34. But it's NOT true!!!!!

This assertion has been consistently debunked.

In fact, this post has the fact check right below it!

I hate the MSM as much as the next lefty, but repeating lies is not going to get us allies.

[Wounded Bear]

21. Add that one to the "No shit, Sherlock!" list...nt

[kimbutgar]

22. The media loves the drama of the orange menace and they do their breathless reporting of his antics

President Biden is not as exciting to them because he doesn’t brag, say outrageous things and does his job.

[ZonkerHarris]

23. because the media (GOP Owned and controlled) wants trump to win.

[calimary]

24. YES. DEFINITELY.

Why AREN'T we hearing more about it?

It should be FRONT PAGE NEWS, across every newspaper, and broadcast and internet information flow. It would drive down his numbers and his perceived "invincibility" - and we need that.

We need that BIGTIME.

[somaticexperiencing]

25. We need to assume the media is in the tank for Trump, either witting or unwittingly. They love, in fact, his ability

to drum up a news story from nothing. From nonsense. It's like reality TV or pro wrestling. People tune in to see and hear what outrageous thing he is going to do next.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/magazine/is-everything-wrestling.html

Plus the owners of all the news stations are Trump contributors.

This goes along with our messaging thing. We need to become experts at getting out our message, extra expert at it. Those of us who have been in the minority know what this is like. To get your views out, even when it is hard for them to be listened to.
And when we hold the power, we should do something to license the news.
Without that, it's just LICENTIOIUS.

[jimfields33]

52. Look at DU, how many stories asking where is trump?

Why do we care? Why is everyone so interested?

[Bird Lady]

26. Because all the CEO's

donate to trump. It is a different version of catch and kill. This time they are trying to kill our president.
They are not smart enough to recognize how bad they will have it in a dystopian rule. Any thing they do will be
scrutinized maga. I hope they like what they have wrought.

[Evolve Dammit]

29. The MSM are eunuchs. NO scrutiny of any Repukes,

At all. Really sucks. Dishonest “journalists “
her emails, Hunters laptop, Benghazi. Its always Dems and never repukes. “The real owners”. G. Carlin’s American Dream. Watch it if you haven’t

[Evolve Dammit]

30. JHC Obama couldn't even wear a tan suit 😡

[Linda ladeewolf]

31. Senile Bullshit

Trump behaves more than a little senile, but he’s a bullshitter and from what I’ve heard a senile bullshitter can still bullshit even if he can’t remember what he was talking about. It may even be easier. He does ramble on for over an hour most times.

[TheKentuckian]

32. His baseline is so poor that slippage from it is very hard to quantify

He never was fit for office at all.

Not now, not eight years ago, not even forty years ago.

What does losing it mean when you never had it to start with?

His manifest unfitness became "acceptable" when he was elected with it and reinforced by being the nominee for a major "party" twice since so he is in house money until he clearly reaches some new depth of batshit crazy and utterly incompetent which may mean literally flinging his own poo or so.

[Mike Nelson]

33. Here's the rub...

... Trump fans WANT a demented leader.

[dlk]

35. Why be fair and balanced...?

The NYT has actually started syntax reporting on Biden’s speeches. Hard to believe anyone, let alone a major news outlet in 2024 could be so ignorant and cruel.

[Beartracks]

37. GOP claims that Biden is a frail puppet being propped up for public appearances is perhaps...

... another fine and very important example of their history of projection: so, so many of the critiques and complaints they make about Democrats turn out to be an admission of their own faults and deeds and secrets. Thus it occurs to me that Republicans may be wanting voters to think Biden is a doddering, incompetent fool precisely because Trump is turning into a doddering, incompetent fool.

The secret is not one being kept from public view by Democrats, but by Republicans.

===========

[liberalla]

40. Kick!

[c-rational]

41. Spot on. Projection and deflection.

[Backseat Driver]

42. I got a dumb question? Do folks previously diagnosed as psychopaths compete to be #1 psycho in the world?

Has Israeli born Sam Vaknin who has previously served in the IDF and aside from a brief stint with AP News and running a now defunct political news site, ever been a consultant to Fox News or other MSM...Apparently, he's re-married and has a psychology practice in North Macedonia and still makes videos on youtube and does lectures. Is he just a fraud that takes his brain system medication(s) and has found a novel way to gain his supply? Does he have a professional cult following as does P45?

[IbogaProject]

43. But he is running on Tax Cuts

The media's masters and advertisers have an agenda to avoid that topic. FYI the media has rarely been unbiased, just now with it so concentrated and with the collapse of the newspaper industry we are now in a media landscape only slightly better than 18th century France and England. We need to take up pampleteering and print and distribute short form print pieces like activists have done for a few centuries now.

[pansypoo53219]

44. he has always been a sick fucker.

[moondust]

45. And Frozen Mitch?

[summer_in_TX]

46. A number of medical professionals have raised concerns about Trump's cognitive decline.

No, they haven't examined him. But they've studied many videos covering many years. Trump's vocabulary has shrunk significantly over that time from his own cognitive baseline. He now appears to forget words and trails of with sounds that do not resemble words. He's slurring and eliding sounds often.

His father had dementia.

I myself started showing signs of aphasia a decade ago, and have trouble retrieving words at times. Sometimes I have to describe items adjacent to the word I'm looking for until my listener is able to guess what I meant. My grandmother had similar symptoms, and though I function fine mentally in many ways (except for retrieving names and now nouns, I know dementia runs on both sides of my family.) I haven't been formally assessed, but even a dozen years ago when I still taught it could take me several minutes to retrieve the name of my students – even though I'd had them more than one year as a special ed teacher. (A factor in my deciding to retire.)

One of the researchers did a study of both Trump and President Biden's language changes over time, counting the various kinds of gaffes each make. The study's conclusion noted that both men's language abilities have declined but said Biden's is consistent with normal aging and doesn't raise red flags about dementia. Trump's did. I believe the study caused the author to put him in the mild to moderate category of dementia. His performance at the debate was more coherent than he's been in recent events that have been recorded, so his may not be all that advanced, but I suspect based on my own experience that aphasia is a problem for him.

[markodochartaigh]

49. I think that post-covid cognitive decline

is going to be an increasingly worrisome issue. After my bout of covid; vaxxed, boosted, and social distancing compliant, I have noticed a sharp decline in my mental acuity which doesn't seem to be getting better even a year on.

[KS Toronado]

47. We should be advertising this more

in 2017, 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals concluded in The
Dangerous Case of Donald Trump that Trump’s mental health posed a “clear and present danger”
to the nation.

Every little bit helps!

[King_Klonopin]

48. We have seen this before...

Remember the assassination of the presidential campaign of Governor Howard Dean of Vermont?

This "Biden has dementia" meme is the newest variation of "Howard Dean is unhinged because he screamed" meme.
The media kept running it until Dean had to drop out of the race. Good job objective reporters!

In the case of Dean, the microphone was adjusted too high which exaggerated the "yelling".
In the case of Biden, the microphone was adjusted too low which exaggerated the "weak voice".

This is America: Evidently, we chose our leaders based on important criterion -- like the volume level of their voice.

The Republicans once again have created a controversy out of nothing -- pure BS. It's what they do.
The media, always the willing shills, have seized upon this non-issue like a dog with a bone,
and they are more than happy to beat it into the ground. Why?
Because peddling this kind of BS attracts viewers. That's all that matters.
Reality? Truth? Relevance? perspective? That don't mean sheeyit.
Keeping people tuned in is the #1 concern.
Contrived controversy, salaciousness, pearl-clutching, fear-mongering, paranoia, and bias always work best.

Running perpetual loops of democrats in meaningless, one-off situations is nothing new.

Trump insults the president with a despicable lie that "everyone" in the military "hates" Joe Biden.
A day later, no more is said.
Trump is convicted on 34 felony counts and of having an affair with a adult porn star.
A day or two later, nothing is said.
Trump vomits up incoherent screeds at his rallies.
Nothing is said at all.

Biden had a poor night at a debate.
The New York Times declares he has dementia and demands that he drop out of the race.
That was 12 days ago. It is still alive, and the republicans and the press are gleeful.

[markpkessinger]

57. Thank you!

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2024, 11:28 AM - Edit history (1)

That;s the best summation of what is going on I've read to date!

It's also important to remember that it wasn't just the media who took Dean down. It was also a certain faction of Democrats -- in that instance, it was the centrist, corporate Democrats who had been running the party since the Clinton presidency -- who opportunistically seized upon the moment to eliminate someone they saw as a rival. Dean, a progressive, was gaining considerable traction among younger voters, and the Democratic establishment at the time very much wanted to shut him down.

And now, it is a different faction of Democrats who are assisting the media effort to drive President Biden from the race -- a group that is perhaps not so ideologically cohesive as the group that seized on the Dean Scream were, but who are nonetheless operating out of their own agenda(a),.

[dalton99a]

50. Kick

[Peacetrain]

51. Thar is a good question

[Attilatheblond]

56. Cuz he's the puppet of the American Oligarch Class

And the Media Moguls are part of that group