Before we get too deep into the new year, let’s revisit one of the big stories of 2024 — a story most of the mainstream media apparently didn’t deem newsworthy.
Throughout most of his presidency, Joe Biden’s mental sharpness was in decline. More than once, we saw news clips of him wandering off — and heard the White House tell the American people not to believe what our eyes were showing us, but rather to believe what Biden’s PR machine was telling us.
Even after his disastrous debate performance in late June, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured the American people that Joe Biden was “as sharp as ever.”
She wasn’t alone. Despite his mental decline, Biden’s family kept his condition from the public. So did his close friends, who must have known. Top Democrats told us he was mentally fit, even after the Wall Street Journal reported in early June that sources told the paper that behind the scenes the president had noticeably slowed down.
All of them — his family, his friends, his political allies — put their personal or their perceived party interests over those of the American people.
But none of it could have happened without the mainstream media mostly sitting idly by and showing an astonishing lack of curiosity about the president’s apparent feebleness.
When that Wall Street Journal expose came out in early June, about how the president had noticeably slowed down, it wasn’t only the White House that cried foul — so did its allies in the media, repeating the administration’s line that it was mainly Republican sources who were behind the story.
But when Biden fell apart in real time on national TV during the presidential debate in late June, the secret was out in the open — no matter what Jean-Pierre was telling reporters.
Why did so many journalists shun their responsibilities to the American people for so long? Here’s a strong possibility: Because they loathed Donald Trump and didn’t want to do anything that might hurt his (or later Kamala Harris’s) chances of winning. I understand how that may sound simple. There’s a reason: Because it is that simple.
Democrats like talking about how Donald Trump is a “threat to democracy” — well, covering for a president who was in mental decline, pretending that he could solve Rubik’s Cube in 30 seconds or less — that is a threat to democracy.
But it’s all in the rearview mirror now. So let’s move on to the new year.
Trump has a laundry list a mile long of what he says he’ll do on Day One in office. One of those priorities is his promise to pardon some of those arrested in connection with the Jan 6., 2021 riot at the Capitol.
Why would he do that? Because he told them that the election had been stolen and they were loyal enough to Trump — or foolish enough — to believe him.
So, pardoning those he called “patriots” and “political prisoners” would send a message — that loyalty to Trump comes with benefits. And it’s a message that will almost certainly resonate far beyond the jail cells holding Jan. 6 rioters.
GOP politicians in Congress will hear the message too. Be a good soldier, sign on to Trump’s agenda no matter what, and he won’t call you weak or stupid, and won’t find someone more to his liking to run against you in the next election. If he could do favors for people who stormed the Capitol, he could do favors for his allies in Congress, so long as they fall in line.
Republicans pride themselves as the “law and order” party, while telling us that Democrats are soft on crime. If Trump pardons criminals who broke into the Capitol, why should anyone believe Republicans are tough on crime?
More than a few Republicans in the House and Senate know that pardoning rioters — especially those who fought with police — would be a big mistake. To the general public, the people who stormed the Capitol aren’t heroes, no matter what Trump says or thinks. But Republicans are afraid to say as much publicly, fearing Trump’s retribution.
On “Meet the Press” this Sunday, host Kristen Welker asked new Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) what he thought about Trump’s promise to pardon Jan. 6 criminals on Day One in office. Instead of giving a straight answer — that he thought it was a good idea or a bad idea — all Thune could come up with was, “That’s ultimately going to be a decision that President Trump is going to have to make.”
His answer struck me as lame — as fear masquerading as loyalty. Whatever motivated Thune, whatever motivates Republicans in general, they’re putting Trump’s interests over what’s best for America — sort of like Biden’s pals putting Biden’s interests over what was best for America.
Sometimes the future looks a lot like the past.
Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him @BernardGoldberg.
