Staff Reports
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has landed a punch on Biden’s West Wing aides for their “inappropriate” use of logistical communication chains following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s final report on the investigation of the president’s mishandling of classified documents. This remarkable rebuke from the press corps responsible for covering the happenings at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is making waves throughout the nation.
In an email from WHCA President Kelly O’Donnell, the NBC News Senior White House Correspondent took Counsel Office spokesman Ian Sams to task for attempting to push reporters to reframe their coverage of Hur’s report. The report highlighted Biden’s significant memory issues, wherein the president failed to recall key events, including his time as vice president and the passing of his son Beau.
Biden Aide Rebuked by White House Press Corps for 'Inappropriate' Attempt to Spin Coverage of Biden's Age
https://t.co/VsTuYp5OzU— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2024
The report, which was around 400 pages, left many baffled and resulted in numerous misreports of its conclusions, specifically the false claim that it found the president “willfully retained” classified docs.
O’Donnell emphasized that the WHCA does not and will not serve as a mouthpiece for the government’s perspective on the news. She asserted that the White House should directly address any concerns it has with reporters’ editorial decisions and not use internal channels for generalized critiques of news coverage.
The WHCA, with its 110-year history, has never controlled or policed the journalism published or broadcast by its members or their employers. O’Donnell underlined that it is inappropriate for the White House to use internal distribution channels for logistics to disseminate generalized critiques of news coverage.
Furthermore, an old saying about explaining and losing seems to be applicable here. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll revealed that 86 percent of Americans, including 73 percent of Democrats, believe Biden is too old to be president, indicating growing concerns about his fitness for the role.
The White House’s attempt to coax the press into ignoring the findings about Biden’s memory after the special counsel’s report seems to have backfired. The president’s own address to the nation, where he became flustered and confused the presidents of Mexico and Egypt, only highlighted the concerns about his cognitive abilities and added fuel to the fire.
The White House’s endeavor to rally the White House press corps to defend Biden and overlook his evident decline has fallen flat, as the president’s own actions have made it increasingly impossible to ignore the concerns about his capacity for the job.
