Way back when Bill Clinton was president, CNN was known among critics as the “Clinton News Network.”
The once facts-first news network would rarely target Clinton and often completely ignore events detrimental to the Democrat.
But all that was supposed to change under new leadership. CNN in August canceled “Reliable Sources,” parting ways with host Brian Stelter, one of the most fierce critics of former President Donald Trump and Fox News.
The new CEO, Chris Licht, told employees then that “this is a time of change and I know that is unsettling. There will be more changes and you might not understand it or like it all.”
Reports emerged that Licht planned to take the network back to the days when it (mostly) just covered the news. “According to the story that’s emerged so far,” Forbes wrote, “the new guy among other things thinks audiences have had enough of the breathless play-by-plays of nonstop crises.”
“And that there needs to be less white-hot resistance programming. Fewer panels with vituperative and partisan guests. A more measured tone in general, overall,” wrote reporter Andy Meek, citing a “CNN insider.”
So much for that story.
CNN decided not to air President Joe Biden’s gaffe last week in which he called for a congresswoman to give her praise.
On Wednesday, Biden delivered a speech at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in Washington, D.C. He recognized those involved in the effort, including Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN).
In his shout-outs, Biden said: “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.”
She wasn’t there because Walorski is dead. She died, along with three others, in a head-on car crash on August 3.
Biden, 79, had clearly forgotten that Walorski had died, even though on the day of her death, the White House released a statement from the president mourning her.
“Jill and I are shocked and saddened by the death of Congresswoman Jackie Walorski of Indiana along with two members of her staff in a car accident today in Indiana,” Biden said at the time.
CNN did not report the story on its broadcasts. “CNN completely ignored it on the air, did run a couple of online articles,” Fox News media reporter Howard Kurtz said during a panel discussion on “MediaBuzz Sunday.”
“There was no mention of this on MSNBC, and there was no mention of this on the air on CNN,” he said. Then Kurtz posited an interesting scenario: “Imagine if it had been Donald Trump.”
While the story quickly disappeared in the mainstream media, it’s worth noting that Biden, who turns 80 next month, is the oldest-ever president and has the codes to America’s nuclear weapons.
Republicans haven’t let the story die, though. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pointed out that even the lapdog media in the White House briefing room barraged Biden’s spokesman with fierce questions.
“Joe Biden’s diminished capacity is so blatantly obvious that even the White House Press corps couldn’t hide their concern,” Cruz said on Fox News. “That’s how you know it’s bad.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Biden mentioned the congresswoman’s name simply because she was “top of mind.”
But Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), who served as White House physician for both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, called for Biden to take “a cognitive test.”
“In yet another pathetic display of incompetence, Joe Biden not only thought my departed colleague was alive, but he also had his puppet-master, Karine Jean-Pierre, deny he was confused,” Jackson said in a statement.
“It doesn’t take a neurologist to realize he’s in serious cognitive decline. The American people know what’s going on here, and they don’t think the Commander-in-Chief is capable of doing his job,” he said.
“It’s past time for White House staff and the liberal media to stop shielding him from questions about his mental acuity and demand he answer my call for a cognitive test,” Jackson added.
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC), a practicing surgeon and vice chairman of the GOP Doctors Caucus, said these “kinds of senseless gaffes have become par for the course for this president.”
“The American people can see that Mr. Biden’s mental acuity is certainly in question,” he told Fox News Digital. “What’s more disturbing to me, however, is the way in which this White House continues to deceive and misdirect the American people on a daily basis.”
“It appears there is nothing the White House won’t do to cover up for a failed president and a failed administration,” Murphy added. “The American people clearly deserve better.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.