Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza has issued a public apology for not addressing concerns regarding President Joe Biden’s mental and physical health sooner, admitting he made a mistake by dismissing those concerns while working at the network.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Cillizza confessed to not investigating the questions surrounding Biden’s health during his time at CNN, particularly in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election and Biden’s first few years in office. His admission comes after recent reports from major outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal highlighted growing concerns about Biden’s age and cognitive decline.
In his video, Cillizza acknowledged that, as a journalist, he had brushed off concerns from Republicans and others about Biden’s physical and mental state. At the time, Cillizza’s response was to downplay the issue, arguing there was no clear evidence that Biden was experiencing any significant decline. However, he now regrets this stance.
“As a reporter, I have a confession to make: I should have pushed harder earlier for more information about Joe Biden’s mental and physical well-being and any signs of decline,” Cillizza said. “During that time, the early part when I was at CNN, 2020 to 2022, people would regularly — Republicans would regularly ping me and say, ‘Why don’t you ask more questions of Joe Biden and how he’s doing? He’s [a] 76, 77, 78-year-old man.’ And I would sort of brush them off because what I would say is, ‘Well, there’s no obvious evidence that he’s declining. Yeah, he moves a little slower, he talks a little slower, but there’s no evidence that he’s declining.'”
Readers may remember that even before Joe Biden took the White House, he was showing signs of cognitive decline and struggling to maintain his train of thought in public appearances, often trailing off, mumbling or seemingly forgetting where he was and what he was originally talking about. There were also rumors of him defecating on himself as well as falling up the stairs early into his term.
During Biden’s first few years in office, the White House and Biden’s team were often adamant that any questions about his physical or mental state were inappropriate and offensive. At the time, calling attention to his age was often dismissed as “age shaming” or politically motivated.
Cillizza admits that the political climate around Biden’s health made it difficult for journalists to ask tough questions. He recalls how Biden’s aides were defensive and quick to shut down any mention of his potential decline, which made him, and others in the media, hesitant to press the issue.
Cillizza now believes this hesitancy led to a failure in addressing what he sees as legitimate questions about the president’s health.
“Once I left CNN, and once it became a little bit more clear to me about Biden’s age, I think I did write pretty regularly and talk pretty regularly about how I wasn’t sure that this guy was up to it,” Cillizza admitted, raising questions about whether the network had discouraged employees from sincerely probing the issue.
Recent reports from outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have highlighted Biden’s struggles with fatigue, his occasional forgetfulness, and concerns among those close to him about his ability to serve another term. In fact, several aides have spoken to the NYT about Biden’s moodiness and weariness, while other Wall Street Journal reports have revealed how Biden’s inner circle has had to take extra precautions to manage his duties and protect him from public scrutiny.
In a CNN article published in August 2021, he sharply criticized Republicans for questioning Biden’s cognitive competency. At the time, Cillizza called those concerns a “gross, lowest-common-denominator” form of politics.
“If Republicans have some sort of proof that Biden is declining, they should bring it forward. If they don’t, they should stop doing what they’re doing. Immediately,” Cillizza wrote at the time.
The “proof” that Republicans had were their eyes and ears. But Democrats and media darlings like Cillizza chose to ignore their own until it was no longer possible, arguably handing Trump his second term.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
The journalist who covered for Biden are as guilty as Kamala, his staffers, etc. Biden should be thrown out now!
Too little, too late.
You are a traitor to your county
The job of the press is to ask questions, get answers, investigate to find the truth, get verificaitons, then tell the people the truth. Holding information back or cutting the edges off of it is the same as lying. I cannot accept any apology from anyone who hides or degrades the truth in order to fit another agenda.
Oh sure, now that they, the liberal news media, is afraid they will face law suits and lose their a—s they want to apologize for dereliction of duty and lying to the American people. Try them for collusion and send them to a gray rock prison.
The apologies from CNN, WSJ and NYT is sorely inadequate. All any reporter had to do was Google dementia, or in my opinion parkinsons and they would have easily been able to follow his decline. Coupled with his speech pattern and questionable mobility as well as limited access to the president, all reporters and networks would have or should have been, reporting differently on Biden’s state of mental decline. But as liberal outlets you were more concerned about politically trying to castrate Trump. These apologies will not garner goodwill. They will only lead to further skeptical and anger on your reporting.
Today’s journalists can’t carry the spit bucket of those who covered Watergate. Rather than investigate Biden’s incompetence, they created a cover screen, a diversion, allowing UNTOLD damage to the country in lives and wealth. Now that it is impossible to cover up certain journalists are looking to cash in on revealing NOW what they knew then.
Their editors should not allow them to have ignored their paid duty at the time to cash in now.