Joe Biden doesn't know how good he's got it with the press. The 81-year-old is catching hell for not being present during public appearances, and his forgetfulness makes everyone worry if he can remember where he put the nuclear football.
But walk a mile in Donald Trump's shoes. Trump is portrayed as evil incarnate, the man who wants to destroy democracy. He wants to jail political opponents, shut down opposition media, start World War III...or maybe allow Vladimir Putin to take over Europe. They just can't seem to make up their minds on that one.
To believe that Trump is getting a pass from the media is to be brain-dead. And yet, that's exactly what the Biden campaign is whining about.
The problem is they just don't get it. Actors like to say there's "no such thing as bad publicity as long as they spell your name right." It's a valid point in today's low-information voter universe. Trump's pugnacious appearances on news programs, late-night comedy shows, and social media snippets make him seem like a fighter even though the context he's seen in is often negative.
Meanwhile, Biden is bleeding support thanks to the one issue that voters say they're most worried about: the president's mental infirmities. It's not so much Biden's age, and for the campaign to frame it that way is dishonest. This is about the president's cognition, his ability to grasp complex issues and make quick decisions.
It's not the same as Hillary Clinton's email server eating up media time in 2016. That scandal played directly into the voters' concerns about Clinton's corruption and honesty. In the end, it cost her the election.
The campaign is now getting desperate — so much so that they've taken to lashing out at media organizations not responsible for the negative coverage.
Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, wrote to the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, criticizing the reporting on Robert Hur's findings. He said not enough coverage was given to exoneration of any wrongdoing by Biden.
Mr. Sams either didn't know or forgot that the WHCA has no control over what White House reporters write.
“Your jobs are not easy. But they are important,” Sams wrote in a Feb. 13 letter. “When significant errors occur in coverage, such as essentially misstating the findings and conclusions of a federal investigation of the sitting President, it is critical that they be addressed.”
Sams should be thanking his lucky stars. Mr. Hur's conclusion was that Biden shouldn't be prosecuted because he would come across as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." I'm sure Biden is still trying to get the media to report on Hur's conclusion that he couldn't be prosecuted, not necessarily why. Hence, getting his spokesperson for the White House counselor's office to fire off a letter to an organization that has no connection with what is actually being reported.
The campaign sent out a press release criticizing The New York Times for “quibbling over” Biden’s statements about the economy, and several Democrats rolled their eyes at a Times headline on Biden’s efforts to forgive student loan debt that described the president as “beleaguered,” only for it to be changed hours later.
“Beleaguered Biden wins second term, luckily saved by greatest job market in history and the happenstance of the strongest economic legislative record in 70 years, which by the way was in no way related to that job market. But how long can the lucky streak last?” Jesse Lee, a former Biden White House adviser, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
I bet Trump wishes he could call the New York Times and get them to change a derogatory word or two.
Biden wants the same consideration from the media that his old boss, Barack Obama, received. That's not going to happen. But there are many ways the media can put their thumb on the scales for Biden, and try to tilt the election away from Trump.
It's becoming harder for the media to cover for Biden as far as his mental decline is concerned. Expect Biden to make fewer and fewer appearances and we might also see a slimmed-down debate format to protect Biden from his own folly.
