Jeffrey Goldberg: Claim Media Covered for Biden Is Misunderstanding of How Reporting Works
During a discussion with “Original Sin” authors CNN host Jake Tapper and Axios National Political Correspondent and CNN Contributor Alex Thompson on Friday’s broadcast of PBS’s “Washington Week,” host and The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg said that he doesn’t “understand how this narrative has developed…that the media was covering for Biden. I think what might be going on here is a lack of understanding about how reporting works. In order to prove that he’s diminished, you have to have people, sources inside telling you this.”
Goldberg stated, “One of the interesting subjects here that’s come out in the past week, as you guys are talking about the book, is the role of the media. I don’t want to do like an extended media criticism here, especially because I’m not sure it’s actually correct. You were doing reporting in 2023. You were bringing this up. There’s a quote that I want to show you. It’s actually — it’s not just you guys. Ezra Klein was asking questions, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal. I want to show you a quote from Mark Leibovich writing in The Atlantic in June of 2022. And the article is called, ‘Why Biden Shouldn’t Run in 2024‘, ‘Biden is by no means the more eloquent character he was in his younger days. It can be painful to watch him give prepared speeches. His tone can be tentative, and certain sentences can become hopscotching journeys. His aides in the room look visibly nervous at times’ and so on. I don’t understand how this narrative has developed that no one in the — that the media was covering for Biden. I think what might be going on here is a lack of understanding about how reporting works. In order to prove that he’s diminished, you have to have people, sources inside telling you this. Give me your thoughts on this question.”
