Reporter Calls Out 'Cover-Up' Over Biden Decline at WHCA Dinner

[Zorro]

A top White House reporter called out former President Joe Biden’s “decline”—and the media’s failure to cover it adequately—while accepting an award at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“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,” said Axios reporter Alex Thompson, who accepted the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence for reporting on Biden and his cognitive issues.

“We—myself included—missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it," he added. “We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows.”

Biden eventually dropped out of his reelection bid last year after a chorus of Democratic leaders urged him to step aside, fearing the party would suffer a landslide loss if he ran again.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/axios-reporter-calls-out-media-cover-up-over-biden-decline-at-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner/

Yeah, fuck this guy. I distinctly recall breathless story after story about Biden's "mental decline", despite delivering a rousing SOTU and numerous other speeches in 2024.

IMO he's just hyping his own forthcoming book by making a stir at this dinner, a dinner where they didn't invite a comedian this year to roast the administration. Their cowardice is a real story.

[FirstLight]

1. ...like they are SOOOO diligent on reporting on TSF's decline into King George madness?

Fuck the media. This is why I am done watchng tv these days...

[SheltieLover]

4. I've not watched any tv in well over 10 years and am happier and healthier for it.

zero tolerance for bullshit here.

[Chasstev365]

5. Maybe Joe was slowing down

But at 80, he could still coherently answer detailed foreign policy questions, unlike the barely literate carnival barker and Putin's bitch, Trump!

[LiberalArkie]

26. Well, to be honest, I do not think any reporter worried that Biden would send them to Gitmo or El Salvador for

their story.

That is why they have always been able to be hard on Democrats and not Republicans.

[GP6971]

39. Welcome to DU.

[B.See]

40. And if it is, so what?

Remember, Sleepy Don attacked Biden constantly re Biden's fitness for the office, continues trying to attack Biden for BIG messes of Sleepy Don's own making.

We're not supposed to bring up who's REALLY asleep?

[Keepthesoulalive]

42. No

It’s about the media witnessing and telling the truth.

[Cha]

44. NO. And you should know that.

[Rebl2]

78. Got that right

He has been mentally declining since the first time he was in office and now he’s even worse.

[SheltieLover]

2. Fucking magat. Decline? Really? Did you see the difference between Joe and slobby at the Pope's funeral?

Joe appears alive -- vibrantly so, and slobby looks like a refuge from a crypt.

[benfranklin1776]

34. Damn right! Joe was wide awake and engaged and classy as always ✊🏼

Whereas Sundowning (at midday) Dementia Donald quickly succumbed, quoting the immortal Jeff Tiedrich: “[to]the need to drift off to beddy-bye land and let rip some aromatic ass-music.”
When this pretend journalist reports on that as hysterically and breathlessly as he did on Biden’s supposed decline maybe then he would be worthy of an award for doing his damn job. 🤬

[OMGWTF]

61. Jeff Tiedrich is a national treasure! He also calls T💩p a "narcoleptic fart factory."

Here's today's column for the uninitiated -- https://www.jefftiedrich.com/

[Katnip.]

79. That's gold

I needed this laugh today with the Canadian election today.

I haven't watched news on tv since the November election when Stumpy won.

When's his book coming out? Journalism (when one can even call it that) is on serious decline.

[SheltieLover]

82. He sure is a national treasure!

[SheltieLover]

81. I couldn't agree more!!!

[Norrrm]

76. and his crypt keeper beside him?

[kimbutgar]

3. The first one I missed in a long time

Watched a comedy sendup off the dinner on a streaming show of comedians.

[rubbersole]

28. Fugelsang's was great.

Second best $20.26 I ever spent - (thanks to Guy Clark's "Doctor, Good Doctor" for that line.)

[kimbutgar]

41. Jo Jo from Jerz was so funny

I laughed at her the most!

[yellowdogintexas]

57. Sexy Liberals, right? I have the Pay per View but couldn't watch it last night nt

[kimbutgar]

58. You can still buy it and watch it on your own time.

[FloridaBlues]

6. Reporters are currently scared of reportering on trump.

Won’t be buying books about Biden and his mental abilities.

[B.See]

37. Nor I. He can

shove his books right up his bum.

[Paladin]

7. Go to hell, Alex Thompson.

Whatever shortcomings there were in reporting on Biden's condition are absolutely dwarfed by the media's repeated blow-jobbing of the trump regime and its vicious, ongoing destruction of this nation. I'd tell Alex Thompson to be ashamed of himself, but it's painfully obvious that he lacks the capacity or decency to comply with such a well-deserved demand.

[yorkster]

8. This is what he chose to focus on! Keereist.

Disgusting, especially when we have a convicted felon and seditious, dangerous fool sitting in the White House.

Eff Alex Thompson, Axios, and Jake Tapper who is a co-author of the book Thompson is obviously pushing here.

[MagickMuffin]

9. Alex Thompson, you're still missing the bigger story

But keep beating that horse as much as makes you feel better about yourself and the industry you protect.

So Alex Thompson

Did you report on Donald trump giving a blow job to a microphone?

Did you debunk the lies about immigrants eating dogs and cats?


I guess you’re just trying to peddle your book that you co-wrote with Jake Tapper to tear down President Biden even more than you should.


This excerpt is from the website peddling their masterpiece of lies!
In Greek tragedy, the protagonist’s effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy.

I adapted it to reflect who the protagonists really are!
In Greek tragedy, the protagonist’s effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, the American MEDIA became a Greek tragedy.

Sanewashing the mad red hatter, while showing extreme disrespect to the President of the United States, President Biden, told us all we needed to know, that the media was in bed with trump. Access to him is all you ever wanted, President Biden didn’t play that game especially after treating him the way the media did.

[Johonny]

10. Biden active and alert all through Pope's funeral

Trump slumped in seat in La La land. He missed the story because it was a BS story.

[hadEnuf]

30. According to media prostitutes like this dickwad from Axios

Trump was giving rousing sermons and Biden was walking into walls.

News has nothing to do with it anymore. Trump is now the way for them to make money and get ahead. When that changes, they will go to the other side.

[UTUSN]

11. However, they continue to miss the story of KRASNOV's corruption, treason, and insanity.

[58Sunliner]

12. They actually gave an award for gaslighting the American public. Says it all.

FU.

[hlthe2b]

13. That is all NYT wrote about for two years--Ezra Klein, in particular... He should be shunned and not

glorified for his recent anti-Democratic Party propaganda book now out, IMHO.

I want nothing to do with him from now on forward. Keith Olbermann is RIGHT on this one--even if he can be a bit reflexive at times.

[OAITW r.2.0]

14. Bet he has a Gold Trump Access card.

He's proven his fealty.

[rubbersole]

33. A Gold Trump Access bib.

[jrthin]

15. What I have noticed is how the oligarch/billionaire media have aggressively

covered tsf physical and mental decline as well as his assault on our democracy.

Fu$k the oligarch/billionaire media in all their forms.

[damifino10]

16. Give it back

Sounds like an award you didn't deserve just from your own comments.

[librechik]

17. Agism--get over it. N/T

[Self Esteem]

18. I don't know if there was a mental decline but there definitely was a decline.

Biden was not nearly as strong verbally as he was in 2020. He made way more gaffes and had more confusing moments than he did when he ran in 2020. His debate was probably the worst in the history of presidential debates and he just didn't seem to have the stamina anymore that he once had.

I don't think he lost it mentally but the optics of Biden were pretty bad. His gate was worse than in 2020, his voice was more hoarse and he was running a pretty low-key campaign before the debate shook things up and forced him out.

I don't think Biden's team helped alleviate the concerns about his age with their approach.

[Ponietz]

20. Biden said he'd be a one-term President

We could have had a primary. But, it was clear to me that unless he upheld the rule of law (convicting and imprisoning Lump) it was all in vain. Garland was damaged goods from the onset. More and more I think we’re being played.

[question everything]

52. This claim is now being challenged

[joanbarnes]

19. tRump's decline? Crickets............

[Self Esteem]

23. Trump's decline is not as obvious.

1. Trump has always sounded unhinged. Even when he was a bit younger. Go listen to him rant and rave about Obama's birth certificate in 2009 and 2010 and he sounds as crazy as he does now.

2. Despite whatever decline he has, Trump is still full-access as president. He's held more press conferences and interviews in his first 100 days with the media than Biden did in all of 2024. That certainly has helped him deflect the decline issues, while Biden felt hidden from the media.

And the OP kinda confirms that as their only example to push back against the decline issue was the SOTU speech, which Biden read off a teleprompter in early 2024. There really isn't many moments outside that that prove he wasn't in decline.

I don't think Biden was mentally in decline but he certainly was physically way worse off as a candidate in 2024 than he was in 2020. Go watch Biden debate Trump in 2020 and compare both to their 2024 debate. Trump seems largely the same. Biden certainly does not.

It makes you wonder how he'd be in 2028.

[Keepthesoulalive]

27. A hell of a lot better than asshole

Biden had a crack team and a more than competent vice president. He was not out to enrich himself and his cronies, he also wasn’t on a vengeance tour. Trumps speeches and responses to questions are gibberish. Oh I forgot sending people to foreign prisons , deporting children with cancer, arresting judges and demolishing the economy. Joe guided the ship of state for the American people and I am grateful for the no drama presidency .

[Self Esteem]

32. We are not talking about the quality of Biden's presidency compared to Trump.

Unfortunately, perception in US politics is half the equation and the perception of Biden was not good. His crack team didn't seem interested in alleviating the concerns people had about his age.

Regardless of the quality of his administration and how he handled the job, his inability to sell those accomplishments and understanding the optics of his age, and the concerns associated with it, is a big reason we're even dealing with Trump right now.

2024 was a disaster for Democrats and the country and it's largely a result of Americans not trusting Biden. The fact they opted to support Trump over Harris (and were supporting him over Biden when he was in the race) is proof positive how poorly things ended for the Biden team.

[Keepthesoulalive]

38. You can't fix stupid

He practically destroyed the country the first time we did not need a part 2.
The media sane washed him just like the first time and we saw some were in the tank for him. He had an erratic billionaire bank rolling him and a healthy dose of racism. Joe Biden is not to blame for Americans amnesia . The people who voted for this clown own it. The republicans put the country in a ditch and the democrats pull it out , but this time might be end game. Americans need to vote for their country not who they like. You keep blaming Biden , put the blame on people who keep voting for MTG and Tommy Tuberville , they keep voting against everyone’s interests.

[Self Esteem]

46. Joe Biden didn't help.

He was the underdog vs Trump in most polls going back to 2023 and he refused to either rework his message or step aside to allow for an actual primary. Instead, despite failing poll numbers and a narrative that was well-established that most voters thought he was too old, Biden decided to remain in the race and only dropped out after his disastrous debate performance.

Biden did not help Democrats. He could not properly articulate his accomplishments so that Americans could see what he did to make their lives better. He was unable to explain why inflation was as high as it was and what his plans were to fix it. Even in the debate, Biden failed at telling voters what his second term plans were.

Harris helped change the narrative but by that point, Democrats were so deep in a hole that Trump was once again a viable candidate.

Yes, Biden deserves some of the blame because his inability to understand the political environment and what was needed to win, led us to Trump.

Biden was immensely unpopular as a president and his team never really seemed interested in trying to fix that. They were convinced Trump being Trump was enough to win them the election, despite every poll saying otherwise.

And there are plenty of stories proving this - from the horse's mouth even.

The campaign openly admitted that they felt the polls would shift once Americans realized Trump would be the nominee because up until the primaries, most voters didn't think he would be the nominee. And when he locked up the nomination, the polls did not shift like Biden's team said they would.

Poll after poll showed Americans were concerned with Biden's mental faculties, more than they were with Trump's, and Biden's team still refused to address the issue. Instead, they opted to run a low-key campaign that was not media focused. They held few rallies, zero townhalls and mostly relied on scripted, fifteen minute speeches. It was a bad strategy because it didn't properly address the major vulnerabilities Biden was facing.

In the end, that type of hubris, Biden's belief he was the only one capable of beating Trump, absolutely led to Trump winning.

[Keepthesoulalive]

49. Stop giving the American people who voted for a convicted felon

In the heartland and the south a pass. Who was the magic person that was going to stop people from believing in a film flam man. Stop excusing the the people who believed he was going to deport criminals and other nonsense. Joe Biden is not the problem, the shallowness of the American public is. They saw filth invade our capital is was not a dealbreaker. Stop looking for a savior, they only exist in comic books.

[Self Esteem]

64. No one is getting a pass.

If Democrats ever want to win the White House again, they've got to figure out WHY those voters voted for convicted felon. It's that simple.

[Keepthesoulalive]

68. Hate , easily led, hurt others

The man is speaking gibberish and the news media is giving him a pass. They also gave him a pass during the election and we saw why , Bezos sitting proudly at his inauguration because he didn’t want regulations and others billionaires are being outed as major donors for the same reason. None of the people the voters or the billionaire class gave a damn about this country. They bear the responsibility for Donald Trump, no one else. If the majority of white Americans voted for this country we would not be the pariah of the entire world. Put the blame where it belongs. Joe Biden cannot save a country that does not want to be saved. He is destroying everything and the only reason they are upset is it’s hurting them.

[Self Esteem]

70. Trump has always spoken gibberish.

He gets a pass because it's the same shit he's been spouting for over a decade. Hell, people here will use videos from 2016 where he confuses 9/11 with 7-Eleven as proof he's lost his marbles. Trump's gibberish and rambling is baked into the cake - just like Bush's stupidity was in the 2000s.

Biden's decline was not baked into the cake. Biden has always been known for his sharp tongue, strong speaking style and ability to go off script and sound completely fine.

Go watch this speech Biden gave in 2012 that he mostly adlibbed and strayed from the prepared remarks:

?si=kBxImLeqlq10kiS9

You can't tell me watching that speech that there hasn't been a significant verbal decline in Biden. His voice is weaker. It gets more hoarse. He stumbles over his words more. His stutter is far more prominent. Biden might have been known for his gaffes but he was not someone who sounded weak or struggled through speeches. Even in 2020, Biden was not stumbling his way through speeches. But over the last couple years, it became apparent he was struggling more. It's a big reason his campaign limited his exposure - until it became too late in the end and they couldn't get away with it after the debate.

Here's an article from 2018 about Trump's rambling speeches in 2016:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26499913

This is nothing new. Trump today might have lost a step but he sounds very similar to the Trump who years ago claimed to have seen thousands of Muslims cheering on the rooftops in New Jersey after 9/11 - or that he was at ground zero that day helping with the clean up.

Biden's failures were that he didn't properly address the concerns about his age and that unfortunately is a big reason Trump won in 2024 - because voters, for whatever reason, lost confidence in Biden and, by extension, Harris.

You can blame the voters all you want but that isn't going to help in 2028 when those same voters are the ones we need to convince to win. A lot of Biden 2020 voters shifted to Trump in 2024, especially Hispanic and Asian voters.

Calling them brain dead or whatever isn't going to win 'em back I'm afraid.

[Keepthesoulalive]

71. They believed the lies

They said as the deportations started he lied to us , he used us. He was only going to deport criminals.
They saw what he did last time and chose to believe the lies. No one can counter fairytales if people choose to believe them. He always lies and if people are gullible enough to believe them you can’t fix that. Democrats constantly clean up republicans messes and people turn around and vote for the devil again. Americans believe they are special, they are going to find out they are rubes and suckers. We will all feel the pain. Maybe we will be more thoughtful and want a country that takes care of all of its citizens like medical care, free college education, holidays and time off for new parents. Probably not in my lifetime.

[Self Esteem]

72. They were tuned out well before any of the lies.

The last time Biden held an average lead head-to-head vs Trump was April, 2023. Biden and his team could not articulate a way to beat Trump and it left Harris in a big hole to climb out of.

[Keepthesoulalive]

73. You refuse to put the blame on the electorate

Everyone experienced his first term. Why would you want a second. You keep blaming Biden. Who would you have chosen to run and keep this country on track. If you elect the dumbest people on the planet as your representatives , you have no problem voting for Trump, all you need is an excuse. The states are heavily gerrymandered for a reason so they can continue to elect really dumb people and let the rich run the country. They have tried to hamstring every democratic president since Carter. Blame the people who keep electing republicans.

[Self Esteem]

74. It's the job of the candidates to convince voters to vote for them.

That's how elections work.

Voters vote for the candidate all the time. It's why America went from voting Bush in 2004 to electing Obama in a landslide in 2008.

As the Democratic president, yes, a good chunk of the blame lies with Biden. That's just reality.

[Keepthesoulalive]

75. It's the job of the electorate to be informed not who you hate

Or who lies to you but who can lead this country. I live with these people and nothing you can say or do will make them vote for a democrat, that’s why our margins are always small. And congress is close always. The American public is incurious and smug. Right wing radio and tv have poisoned the process. I get it you hate Biden but who do you think is better?

[Self Esteem]

77. I don't hate Biden...I love Biden.

I am deeply saddened by what has happened to Biden the last three or so years - both with his stature leading the party and the attacks he's gone through. But I'm also saddened by his own hubris and the fact he refused to run the campaign we needed him to run. In March, 2023, I met with the local parties out west to discuss the upcoming campaign. Biden was almost certainly going to run for reelection, tho he hadn't announced yet (he'd announce a month later). A person from his pending campaign team met with us to map out western swing states (specifically Nevada and Arizona) and at the end, we had a Q&A sess about the pending campaign.

My only question (more a comment) was to get reassurance about the campaign they were planning to run because even then, I knew the age issue was problematic for Biden. I saw it in the polling my state party commissioned for Nevada Democrats and it didn't feel like the White House had properly addressed those concerns.

So, I put it like this to the campaign: as someone on the front lines of data collection for state parties, the biggest vulnerability we're seeing with Biden right now is his age. Can the campaign promise that Biden will run an aggressive, spirited campaign that gets him out in front of voters?

I was told that was their plan.

That plan never materialized.

Biden's campaign moved away from an active, aggressive campaign and opted to run a small campaign instead.

He needed to show had the stamina for the job and you don't do that by holding small retail events.

Biden's campaign only changed after the debate. It was at that point they knew they were in trouble and needed to lean into the aggressive campaign style they should have been doing from the start. It would have helped shut the media up about his age and shown the American people he was competent enough to lead. But that didn't happen. Biden remained largely off the campaign trail through spring and summer, rarely did interviews and held zero town halls - until that debate. But by that point, it was too late. You weren't going to unring that bell. It just validated every concern Americans had about Biden and his age and his ability to effectively lead this country. Fair or not. And if politics is one thing, it's that it's unfair.

As for who would have done better than Biden? Campaign-wise? I think Harris was better than Biden. Had Biden remained in the race, he would have lost by a similar margin as McCain in 2008. It would have been a blowout. Harris lost - but she kept it close and that helped Democrats win senate seats in Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin, seats they probably would have lost had Biden been the nominee.

[TnDem]

69. re: correct

You are of course, 100% correct and I promise you before this thread ends, you will be blamed for Biden's demise, not Biden.

[dchill]

45. "Trump's decline is not as obvious."

You've GOT to be kidding.

But I guess not.

[Self Esteem]

47. Go watch the 2020 debates between Biden and Trump...

...and compare them to Biden's and Trump's 2024 debate and you tell me Biden's decline isn't significantly more apparent.

[dchill]

48. I HAVE watched it.

And I understand the underlying circumstances that went on in the background of the debate. I am capable of analyzing and understanding the outcome.

[Self Esteem]

65. Biden's debate was maybe the worst presidential debate in history.

Trump was the exact same Trump he was four years earlier: bombastic, mean, deflecting and rambling. Joe Biden was not the same Joe Biden from 2020. He looked weak, confused and struggled to even put a coherent argument on the table ("we finally beat Medicare!" ).

The problem is that the debate was the first time Biden had to answer questions in front of cameras in months. He was not helped by a team that kept him hidden for a bulk of the campaign. Biden rarely did interviews. He didn't do any press conferences after his February press conference when the Hurr report was released and he held zero townhalls leading up to the debate.

That only compounded his debate performance. It's sad fact: Biden's decline, at least in perception, looked much more significant to anyone who paid attention than Trump's.

Trump sounds the same as he did in 2020.

Biden does not.

I watched his most recent speech going over SS and attacking Trump and he struggled even reading it.

[senseandsensibility]

21. The entire WHC dinner was depressingly predictable

with the only "tough" comments aimed at Biden and trump completely off limits. Huge capitulation and groveling for access done in the guise of "look how tough we are." I was going to start an OP on it, but I think I've reached my saturation point on the topic for a while.

[Dave Bowman]

22. Dump being insane never registered on this idiot's radar?

[angryxyouth]

24. Maybe include Ronald Reagan in that speech

Nobody ever talked about his decline.

[CBHagman]

25. Now I'm going to need to do a side-by-side comparison of how he covered candidates.

For some time I have limited the number of news stories I read about candidates, but I did notice that The Washington Post's political reporters, for example, did participate in the sanewashing of Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign. To cite just two examples, reporters reported on his rambling tariff-focused response to a question on child care as though he had produced a plan, and they wrote paragraph after paragraph about his relationship with female voters without referencing the E. Jean Carroll case.

Now I want to see what Thompson did (or did not) do.

[senseandsensibility]

54. Keep us posted

I think I remember him being called out for going easy on trump during the last election and after. But I'd like to know more.

[blogslug]

31. wank wank emoji

eyeroll eyeroll eyeroll

[IbogaProject]

43. News flash an old guy in retirement seems elderly!

What a para-cite to be writing about this unless it focuses on the current leader somehow.

[Miami Blue]

50. President Biden is a level-minded man for his age

Last edited Sun Apr 27, 2025, 07:48 PM - Edit history (1)

So instead of bashing Biden, the Media should be investigating why Felon TraitorTrump keeps behaving so weirdly.
But unfortunately, they have decided to remain quiet and refuse to report what our own eyes
can see day-to-day.
That's all the mumbling and incoherent Bullshit that keeps coming from the demented Felon’s lying snout. Not to mention, his insane tariffs policy and his erratic and eccentric behavior.

Just a reminder:
The felon’s papa died with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Perhaps those are the
same mental diseases that Don the Con is
also suffering from.

[ShazzieB]

51. Yes, there were stories about Biden's supposed "decline" cer early on.

Maybe even before the 2020 election (I don't recall for sure), and definitely all through his term. Making up fake excuses to criticize him be cause they didn't have anything real to go after him for.

It was a disgusting display.

[question everything]

53. He attended a funeral in Rome, for one thing

[JohnSJ]

56. F**K all of them. They are responsible for trump and their bullshit "both sides do it". missed what story

Alex Thompson you jackass.

YOU are the reason you and your ilk have no confidence in the U.S. media. You did the same bullshit to Hillary, and you are doing it again with the sociopath's second term.

I hope no one wastes their time watch the "mutual admiration society", that they call the White House Correspondence Dinner.

Maybe they will get food poisoning.

no surprise this is coming from a jake tapper buddy.

[returnee]

59. Biden's age and "cognitive decline"...

…was harped on, while TSFfelon was being thoroughly sane-washed. This guy is in some alternate reality.

[Joinfortmill]

60. Big mistake, Axios. Big!

[Martin68]

62. Despicables.

[Dock_Yard]

63. Axios ... Mike Allen always came off like he's a know-it-all

Prior to the '24 Election, I saw entirely too much of Mike Allen's pontificating, before Morning Joe began at 6AM ET.

Jonathan Lemire would have him on frequently in that final 5 minute segment on Way Too Early.
Never any serious debate, just softball open-end topics lofted from JL.
It all just seemed like an over-rehearsed Infomercial for Axios, thankfully brief.

I found it self-serving and irritating to hear the "glorified Axios take on whatever was the MSM news of the day.

To whatever degree Mike Allen is still running Axios, he can kiss my ass.

[elocs]

66. From what I have read, Biden himself admitted he made a mistake in making 2 trips to Europe

before the first debate and was jet-lagged. Then 2 days before the debate he woke up with a bad cold while Trump likely did nothing but rest up for the debate. Decisions that changed the fate of America and like the world as well.

[Torchlight]

67. I can see why they don't want to apply this discussion to Mr. trump.

Keep the attention off the clown and let his handlers play "what about/if"

[MustLoveBeagles]

80. Are you shitting me?!!

It's all they talked about for 3 weeks after the debate. All the while ignoring trump's obvious lieing at the same debate. Not to mention normalizing the orange one's decline for years.