General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsZeteo: Donald Trump Is Mentally Unfit for Office. Here's the Evidence
Why is the media giving a pass to a 78-year-old who keeps making delusional and unhinged remarks?
Mehdi Hasan
May 05, 2025
The press coverage of the president was brutal. The Washington Post said he should do some "soul searching" after a "calamitous" performance raised legitimate questions about whether hes up for another four years in the worlds toughest job.
The Chicago Tribune called him a man now struggling to maintain a line of thought and keep track of complex facts, a man who gets flustered under deadline pressure and who is protected by aides who have painted a picture of fictional cognitive vitality.
The Economist described him as befuddled and incoherenttoo infirm, frankly, to cope with another four years in the worlds hardest job.
The president, of course, was Joe Biden. In June 2024, a befuddled and incoherent Biden embarrassed himself in front of tens of millions of television viewers in a live presidential debate. We beat Medicare, he bizarrely declared, at the end of a rambling answer to a moderators question about the national debt. His onstage meltdown became the biggest news story in the world. The New York Times editorial board called for him to step aside from the race. So did senior members of his own party. So did I.
Almost a year later, however, I have to ask: Where are the headlines and editorials from mainstream media outlets such as the Times and the Post calling on Donald Trump to step down as president? Where is the media chatter about Trumps seeming dementia, or the round-the-clock panels on cable news discussing the current presidents mental competence? Why do we continue to give a pass to a 78-year-old who we can all see is in cognitive decline, and who now comes across as more befuddled and incoherent than Biden ever did?
/paywall
kerry-is-my-prez
(10,333 posts)Theres a lot of people who are saying it, but unfortunately, its being said by people who are on Substack, a few newspapers only every once in a while.
ananda
(35,518 posts)...
Blue Owl
(59,628 posts)Where was all the hand-wringing then???
Grim Chieftain
(2,048 posts)Joe Biden! Damn them all to hell. The media is largely complicit in this horror show.
the nelm
(296 posts)all the while kvetching on incessantly about Biden's mental decline. To their everlasting shame, the corporate media in this country royally screwed the pooch on this one. I still can't quite grasp what they thought would be the end result. Making sure they maintained access to the turd or trying to pretend to be "evenhanded"? He's been making threats against the press since at least his first term. It's not like they hadn't been warned. Either way, he's coming after them one way or the other. He's already started and he's not going to stop until put in his place for whatever reason.
UpInArms
(55,377 posts)If the writer of this article had done the same thing to the crazy guy who shouted at clouds, gave a microphone a blow job and talked about Arnold Palmers dick size
vapor2
(4,924 posts)the nelm
(296 posts)Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets red glare, it had nothing but victory.
Hard to top that.
Walleye
(45,484 posts)One crisis that was definitely his to own, as president, and he fucked it all up. The media act is if it happened under a Democrat.
Cha
(320,603 posts)Read when I get home.
Meowmee
(9,212 posts)Never, for many reasons...
BComplex
(9,961 posts)That's why they're so vilified by people with even a normal I.Q.
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