The media was the first to pile on after the debate

[karin_sj]

They had endless stories about how Joe is old, is not a good speaker, and should step down. They even went as far as to print stories that were proven to be total lies, like saying that prominent politicians wanted him to quit the race. This debacle is going to really hurt the media in the long run. I will never watch CNN again and the only shows I'll watch on MSNBC are Lawrence, Joy, Katie Phang, and the weekend one with Michael Steele on it. So many news outlets & commentators that I followed and thought were fair and honest showed their true colors. It's actually a good thing because I was watching and reading way too much news before. Now I'm FAR more selective.

Then, the weak, fearful, attention-seeking politicians joined the fray. This was the most disappointing thing of all. I'm so disillusioned with the disloyal politicians who were so quick to throw Joe under the bus, despite his accomplishments and decades of service to his country.

Add to all this the bots from foreign countries (mainly Russia), the MAGA trolls, and general shit stirrers swarming all over our social media and you have a tsunami of crap that would make any normal person feel defeated, disheartened and want to give up.

Unfortunately for them, it seems to be doing just the opposite from what I'm seeing online and when Joe actually goes out and talks to the public. When he recovers, he needs to get out there and meet with the voters, and have large rallies with large groups of people. And please, NO MORE one-on-one interviews where the sole objective is to fluster him and badger him to get out of the race. I think he should cancel the coming debates too because you can't debate a person whose every word is a lie. At this point, Biden needs to show everyone that the people who count, the voters, still have faith in him. And the vast majority of us do.

[SocialDemocrat61]

1. This started before the debate

the corporate media through shills like Jon Stewart has been flogging this narrative for months.

[valleyrogue]

2. Nobody watches Jon Stewart.

This was entirely manufactured within seconds of the debate. James Carville was the one who started this, and he is long past the time he has had any real insider knowledge about politics. He threatened to go to donors about it.

[karin_sj]

5. Very true...

Plus the other late night hosts, comedians, Saturday Night Live, etc. But it sure gained traction after the debate, and they've continued relentlessly ever since. I was so excited when I heard that the Daily Show was coming back. What a disappointment that turned out to be!

[shrike3]

14. Yes, it did. This was their big chance.

[Ocelot II]

3. It was a crisis that was aggravated, if not actually created, by the media.

Biden's debate performance was a good deal worse than expected (though if you read the transcript the substance wasn't bad at all). It was duly noted by the media, which wasn't surprising, but each report fed on the previous ones and it started to metastasize. That scared the pols and the donors, who threw more gas on the fire. The media then breathlessly reported on the fire, adding more fuel. The fact that Biden showed his normal acumen and sharpness in all subsequent public appearances didn't seem to make any difference. And now nobody can put out the fire.

[valleyrogue]

9. They interviewed James Carville right after the debate.

I was horrified as to what was coming out of his mouth. Somehow the media thinks he is relevant to politics in 2024, some thirty years after he was truly relevant in US politics. The threats he made about going to donors was over the top, and THAT is where this started.

Sure, the NYT was yapping about Biden's age weeks and months before, but that was because Sulzberger was butthurt he didn't get his interview. Carville's mouthing off, though, is where this nonsense about "dumping Biden" originated. It is all about Harris because these mostly MEN don't want a woman president at all. Carville is too clever to admit he is a misogynistic asshole, but he did a lot of damage.

I harp on Carville because I am well aware that he still allegedly has "pull" in the party instead of being marginalized like he should be. He is the major culprit in all this.

[JI7]

4. I stopped watching CNN a few years ago

Not missing anything. And life in general is just better.

I learned when it comes to elections we just do what we can. Me personally knowing what poll results are every dsy isn't going to matter for me. I'm not a campaign manager/strategist that is planning out the campaign schedules.

What I personally can do won't really change.

[chouchou]

6. Amen..AND If one more right-winger starts with "The media is Left-Wing" You'll hear me scream.

[spanone]

7. The media is loving and profiting off of the 'shakeups'.....

Shakeups in the 2024 race provide much-needed jolt in interest for news outlets

After months of tuning out what had been a fairly predictable and uneventful race between the two party incumbents, recent earthshaking events have upended the state of politics, adding an unexpected wrinkle to the storyline and prompting audiences to turn their attention to the high stakes showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

In other words: the 2024 drought appears to be over as Americans show renewed interest in a race that has suddenly been thrown into upheaval.

In recent weeks, tens of millions of people, thirsty for information, have turned to news organizations for coverage of the consequential CNN presidential debate and its aftermath, the attempted assassination of Trump, and the Republican National Convention.

The CNN debate averaged 51 million viewers, networks averaged about 19 million viewers after Trump was shot, and the first night of the RNC averaged 18 million viewers. On digital platforms, numbers have also traveled upward, with the major events sending spikes of traffic to news organizations.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/18/media/news-outlets-viewership-2024-election/index.html

[valleyrogue]

10. It's all about ratings and ad revenue. Just like CNN promoting Trump 24/7 in 2016. n/t

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. The media waters were chummed with raw meat from Dem insiders

Immediately after the debate ended, both Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace said their phones had been blowing up with messages from Dem insiders and elected officials bemoaning Biden's performance and calling for him to be replaced.

So, while the media has eagerly engaged in this feeding frenzy, it was initiated and sustained by Dems (and triggered, let's be honest, by Biden's dismal performance).

[Ocelot II]

11. Although Biden's debate performance was poor, why was it that they didn't wait

to find out what caused it and whether it was an indication of some serious, ongoing problem? In subsequent speeches, interviews and other appearances he seemed to be back to normal, but the pile-on continued. Why?

[notemason]

12. When I heard the MAGA camp rattling on about drug testing just before the debate

and knowing their penchant for projection, I thought someone would be on drugs for the debate and after it was over I had to wonder if someone slipped into the normal drug supply of the President. Highly speculative, but why not?

[maxsolomon]

13. His aging has been a concern all along. It was before.

I'm sure we all remember the Great DU Ageism Debate of 2020.

The NYT led the charge because Sulzberger felt Biden was ducking them - that he was hiding something. Then everyone saw the debate and the Dems started to get nervous.

Biden has a noticeably stiffer gait now at 81 than at 76, and the face lift has not aged well. He was always a mush mouth, but it's gotten worse.

Nothing's wrong with Biden's judgment or his ability to DO the job, and he's done the best of any president in my life. It is SELLING his ability to do the job that is the concern. He's coming off as frail, which plays into Russiapublican narratives.