A top White House reporter called out former President Joe Biden’s “decline”—and the media’s failure to cover it adequately—while accepting an award at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“President Biden’s decline and its cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception,” said Axios reporter Alex Thompson, who accepted the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence for reporting on Biden and his cognitive issues.
“We—myself included—missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it," he added. “We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows.”
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Biden eventually dropped out of his reelection bid last year after a chorus of Democratic leaders urged him to step aside, fearing the party would suffer a landslide loss if he ran again.
Thompson—who is co-authoring Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again with CNN anchor Jake Tapper—said it was necessary to reflect on the moment now to avoid making the same mistakes.
Multiple books and reports since the election have recounted the chaos surrounding Biden’s final year, with aides admitting he suffered from a mental decline toward the end of his presidency. Author Chris Whipple’s Uncharted recounted how aides operated in a “fog of delusion and denial” over Biden’s ability to serve a second term, while The Wall Street Journal reported how Biden’s aides kept meetings short and scripted more of his appearances.
“I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust, and being defensive about them further erodes it,” Thompson said. “We should have done better.”
Thompson also defended the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), saying it is needed more than ever as the Trump White House wages war on the press.
The Trump White House has gone to war with the WHCA since January, taking control of the press “pool” system that distributes reports to the wider correspondents association and icing out outlets, including the Associated Press, over coverage decisions it disagrees with. The AP took the White House to court over the matter, where a judge reinstated its access to the White House.
“I believe our mission is vital in a world where people are struggling to figure out what’s true, and people with power are not telling the truth,” he added. “I also believe that this association has been, is, and will continue to be critical to that mission.”
Thompson was one of the few reporters who captured Biden’s decline throughout the 82-year-old’s presidency, prompting the ire of Biden’s press team. After Biden’s disastrous debate last year, White House reporters told the Daily Beast his press team had lost its credibility over how they handled his declining health.
Biden was nowhere near Washington, D.C, on Saturday, as he attended Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome. Photos from the event showed Biden gripping onto a priest and his wife to get down some steps at St. Peter’s Square, according to the Daily Mail.
