The Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief said he feels proven wrong about the paper’s reporting on President Biden’s “fading” intellectual acuity, especially after the 81-year-old Democrat’s dismal debate performance on Thursday.
Emma Tucker, the British-born journalist who became the first woman to lead the Wall Street Journal in its 135-year history, came under fire from Biden supporters earlier this month after publishing a piece citing people who had been in contact with Biden that “Biden is declining.”
After Biden lost to former President Donald Trump, Tucker from Semaphore Whether she felt vindicated.
“It really is,” she told the outlet, “Their reporters worked extremely hard to report stories that needed to be reported and that other mainstream publications wouldn’t touch. I’m very proud of them.”
On June 4, two Journal reporters, Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes, Co-authored the story The paper cited sources who met with Biden in recent weeks as saying the president spoke in a low voice during the Oval Office meeting, making it difficult to hear.
People who witnessed Biden up close said the president frequently referred to notes and took long pauses when trying to make obvious points.
Several people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Biden has memory problems and often appears to forget details of his policies on issues such as financial aid to Ukraine.
But the article was ridiculed by Biden supporters in the White House and in the media, who accused the Journal of relying on Republican-leaning sources to launch a partisan attack.
But Biden’s mumbled responses during the debate have caused unease within his own party.
The president appeared frozen at times during the CNN debate, struggling to gather his thoughts and articulate his answers.
Biden’s voice was raspy, he spoke in a whisper and coughed frequently, further raising doubts about his stamina and ability to withstand the rigors of the job.
The president’s debate performance has shocked his supporters, especially high-profile members of the media, who are calling for him to step aside and replace him with a younger candidate for the Democratic nomination this fall.
A source close to Biden told CNN on Friday morning that not only does the president have no plans to withdraw from the race, but he is focused on preparing for the second presidential debate on September 10.
The Journal is owned by Dow Jones, a subsidiary of News Corp., the parent company of The Washington Post.
“The president started out slow, but he really heated up as he went along,” a Democratic official familiar with the campaign’s thinking told The Washington Post.
“He provided the necessary contrast in many ways,” the source said, “which is by no means to say he was at his best.”
Despite this, the source said, “the electoral results swung significantly in favor of the president.”
The Washington Post has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
