A former CNN pundit took a fair amount of flak for dismissing concerns about President Biden's mental decline.
Chris Sillizza, who served as CNN's editor-in-chief until he left the company in 2022, said he has no plans for Biden's inauguration following two damning reports this week in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He spoke frankly about his lack of journalistic curiosity. It shed light on the president's declining state.
“As a reporter, I have a confession to make,” Siritza began his “apology” on his YouTube channel on Thursday. “We should have worked sooner to get more information about Joe Biden's physical and mental health and signs of decline.”
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Former CNN editor-in-chief Chris Cillizza has apologized for not doing enough to address President Biden's mental decline. (Screenshot/CNN)
Siritza acknowledged that Republicans “emailed me regularly” during his time at CNN, asked why he didn't mention Biden's decline, and said he didn't see “evidence” of the president's decline. I asked him how he could ignore it.
And not only did he admit to taking the White House's word for it, he also admitted that he feels guilty for “age-shaming” Biden.
“The White House and those around Joe Biden are adamant that it is offensive to suggest anything, including asking questions about whether he is experiencing physical, mental, or both decline.” 'And I think that affected me on some level.' “Because even though I've asked this question from time to time…to be honest, I didn't push it too much. Now, since I left CNN and since I've been a little more clear about Biden's age, I… , I think I wrote quite often and talked quite often about how I wasn't sure whether this guy was serious or not. And obviously, after the debate on June 27th, I Everyone started writing and talking about it.”
The former CNN pundit went on to note Biden's limited interaction with his own Cabinet and Democratic lawmakers, and the Times' assertion that it is “hard to imagine” Biden staying in office for another four years. I read an excerpt from the Journal's report on
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President Joe Biden appears to be resting his eyes during a summit with African leaders in Lobito, Angola on December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
“I probably should have put more effort into the Biden era. In retrospect, people close to him knew that at best he had some good days and some bad days. The June 27th debate was clearly bad. “But if that bad day was as bad as his performance on that debate stage, it's hard to imagine that he served as president with few questions asked about his physical and mental decline. And I would add that fact. I'm a little worried about what happened between June 27th and January 20th, 2025, when he continued to serve as president, and when those close to him knew, what they knew, and why they shared it. I'm sure you're wondering if it wasn't. ” Shiritza said.
“I know and I can tell you that the journalist asked the question. I mean, I know from my experience that there was an element of shame in that. People around Biden have said that Biden was not following the president's will. I asked him if he had, and he tried to make me feel uncomfortable.'' Could he do the job of becoming president, running for president again, and serving as president for another four years? …And they did a very good job of hiding it, at least until they couldn’t hide it anymore,” he continued. “But journalists, and I've put myself here, we should have been more forceful. We should have done that. There's no shame in making you feel bad by asking questions.” You shouldn't have spread the campaign to me because it was Because it's clear from both articles in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times that there is real deterioration and significant decline in Joe Biden, and that it is being managed by those around him, and that they are I wrote an article that said that in a sense, he was distancing himself from the world and the political world. And it keeps him in a kind of enclosure. ”
“So I think this is a lesson that we have to learn moving forward, because, again, if Donald Trump serves a four-year term, he will become the oldest president in history. I have that in mind. Because, again, asking them, it's not a partisan thing to ask, and I should be more proactive in my campaign to say, 'No, he's fine.' I shouldn’t have accepted it,” Sillizza said. Added.
Schritza said he is fooled by the White House's “shameful campaign” every time he brings up the subject of Biden's mental sharpness. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
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Some critics criticized the delay in Mr. Schritza's apology. One of them, conservative podcast host Meghan McCain, cited past comments by her late father, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was running for president in 2008. , attracted scrutiny for its sincerity.
“When I say it's too late, I mean it's pathetically too slow,” McCain responded of X. “When my father ran for office in 2008, there was no more persistent and persistent 'McCain truther' regarding my father's age (when he was 71, he ignored Biden more than Chris) , because he is a hack.”
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