For years, anyone daring to question Joe Biden’s mental fitness was branded a conspiracy theorist by the very people now tripping over themselves to admit what we already knew. Suddenly, after years of denial and media gaslighting, there’s a new rush to “tell the” truth”—conveniently packaged in glossy books and self-righteous television appearances. What changed? Not their principles, that’s for sure. If you think the mainstream media’s sudden honesty about Biden’s cognitive decline is a sign they’ve reformed, think again. The truth is far uglier — and it says a lot about how little they actually respect the American people.
At Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner (aka the Democratic Party's prom night), Axios reporter Alex Thompson had the audacity to stand up and admit what conservatives have been screaming about for years: the media completely botched their coverage of Biden's mental decline.
Kristen Welker on NBC News kicked off the moment by announcing the Aldo Beckman Award for overall excellence in White House coverage. In her introduction, she explained the award was meant to honor a correspondent who embodies “impartiality, integrity, and a deep knowledge of the presidency,” and if you’re not already laughing, you haven’t been paying attention.
Welker then announced this year’s winner: Alex Thompson of Axios. She read the judges’ comments aloud, noting that Thompson’s “aggressive reporting on President Biden, especially leading up to and after the Trump-Biden debate, revealed the president’s cognitive decline was impacting his ability to do his job, information the White House tried to conceal.”
In other words, after years of pretending Biden was fine—and attacking anyone who said otherwise—the media finally decided it was safe to admit the obvious. Now, conveniently, they’re handing out awards for noticing what conservatives had been pointing out for years.
“President Biden’s decline and its cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception,” Thompson said. “But being truth-tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story, and some people trust us less because of it.”
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He went even further, admitting, “We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows. I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust, and being defensive about them further erodes it.”
In a rare moment of honesty from someone inside the bubble, Thompson confessed, “We should’ve done better. I believe our mission is vital in a world where people are struggling to figure out what’s true and people with power are not telling the truth.”
.@AlexThomp: "President Biden's decline and its coverup by the people around him is a reminder that every White House regardless of party is capable of deception...We, myself included, missed a lot of this story and some people trust us less because of it." #whcd #nerdprom pic.twitter.com/L9CtbB3HIZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 27, 2025
It’s an astonishing admission, but let’s not kid ourselves. This isn’t a real reckoning—it’s damage control. The media didn’t miss Biden’s decline because they were blind. They missed it because they chose to. Now that it’s impossible to ignore—and there’s money and prestige in “reporting” on it—they’re trying to rehabilitate their image by pretending to come clean.
But don’t fall for the idea that the mainstream media has suddenly found religion on telling the truth. Just look at how they’ve bent over backward to frame suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia as a harmless “Maryland man,” carefully scrubbing any mention of his illegal status, his alleged domestic abuse, and his ties to human trafficking. They want you to see a victim — not the threat he actually is.
No one in the corporate press deserves applause for finally acknowledging Biden’s obvious decline. They didn’t do it out of principle. They did it because they aren’t defenders of truth, but rather defenders of the Democratic Party.