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The Associated Press' Article Defending Biden Blows Up in Their Faces Spectacularly

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  July 04, 2024 7:00 AM

Did The Associated Press fall asleep for a week? Were they even present for last Thursday night’s debate where Donald Trump wiped the floor with Joe Biden? It’s the only explanation other than thinking we’re all idiots. The publication peddled this masterpiece amid polls showing that three-fourths of the country think Biden is too old and frail to be president, which has partially fed a total Democratic Party meltdown over the past few days.

The headline is absolute cinema: “Biden at 81: Sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful.” 

Better yet, it comes off the media trying to act like saints, either by admitting they dropped the ball in covering the president’s mental decline or saying it was too hard, either because White House staff shielded Biden or were afraid of blowback. One would say red flags that something was amiss were pervasive, but the Democrat media complex went along as scheduled until that debate torched everything. Even more entertaining, these same folks trying to act as if they’ve been covering a declining Biden were attacking us for reporting on the president’s slip-ups, even accusing us of peddling cheap fakes regarding unedited videos of Biden looking totally lost. 

Five AP reporters were part of this ‘he’s old and slow, but also not’ attempt at gaslighting. And yes, it’s no better than North Korean state media. What the hell even is this: 

He is often sharp and focused. But he also has moments, particularly later in the evening, when his thoughts seem jumbled and he trails off mid-sentence or seems confused. Sometimes he doesn’t grasp the finer points of details. He occasionally forgets people’s names, stares blankly and moves slowly around the room. 

Biden’s occasional struggles with focus may not be unusual for someone his age. But at 81 years old and seeking another four years in the White House, the moments when he’s off his game have taken on a fresh resonance following his disastrous debate performance against Republican Donald Trump. The president appeared pale, gave nonsensical answers, stared blankly and lost his train of thought. 

[…] 

The way Biden acts in private, according to regular observers, often tracks how he comes off publicly. In both settings, he can be commanding one day and halting another. 

A day after his debate blunder, Biden’s voice at a North Carolina rally was forceful, his eyes alert, his delivery confident. As he spoke, cheers filled the room. 

“I give you my word as a Biden. I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job,” he told supporters. “Because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high.” 

But sometimes, Biden speaks so softly that it is difficult to make out his words even with a microphone. He’ll stop mid-sentence and trail off during speeches. At other times he runs the room, leading the audience, joking and shaking hands with thrilled supporters, in clear command of the moment. His gait is often stiff, but sometimes he jogs. 

[…] 

Biden’s allies worry that the next inevitable misstep — even if it’s not of the magnitude of his debate disaster — will resurrect voter concerns about the president’s fitness for office. That no matter how hard he tries, Biden may never be able to fully get past it. 

A growing body of misleading online videos isn’t helping matters. In one clip, Biden stands very still during a Juneteenth musical performance at the White House, leading to talk he had “frozen.” 

[…] 

Many in the White House say the president is in command across both domestic issues and critical foreign policy problems, like the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

“I have been with the president a number of times over the last 3 1/2 years on some of the most consequential kind of life, death or peace-type decisions, and also very high-stakes engagements with senior leaders,” said Brett McGurk, a senior National Security Council official who coordinates the Middle East and North Africa. McGurk has worked for both Republican and Democratic administrations. 

“And what I have seen time and again — repeatedly and consistently — from the first week of the administration until now — is a president who prepares for those engagements, who has very detailed and comprehensive briefs for those engagements, and then does the engagement, and then has very active follow up.” 

The irony is that the piece is littered with examples of Biden being unable to do the job, mentally slipping, or utterly gassed from the travel. That’s the job, Jack. Call this piece what it is: propaganda. 

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‘Don’t believe your lying eyes’ is the theme that flies off the pages here. It’s offensive. Biden is reportedly only semi-conscious between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., had nap time during debate preparations at Camp David, and was off or resting almost two weeks before his June 27 demolishing by Donald Trump. 

Eighty-six percent of Americans from a Washington Post/ABC News poll said he was too old to run again last winter, and now we have almost 75 percent saying he’s too old post-debate. This isn’t some minor blip—it’s a consensus. And the liberal media is trying to gaslight us into oblivion with this piece. The Media Research Center should make this a lecture for its summer intern class: anatomy of Government Propaganda.