Sinclair injects deceptive attacks on Biden's age into dozens of local broadcasts

https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/sinclair-injects-deceptive-attacks?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1664&post_id=145519216

JUDD LEGUM AND AARON RUPAR
JUN 11, 2024

Two outlets controlled by right-wing media tycoons are working in tandem to aggressively push specious claims about President Joe Biden's fitness for office to millions of Americans.

On June 4, the Wall Street Journal published a 3,000-word article questioning Biden's mental acuity. The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp, the media conglomerate founded by right-wing billionaire Rupert Murdoch. He stepped down as chairman of the company last year, assuming the role of chairman emeritus. At the time of his retirement, Murdoch promised to continue to be "engaged daily with news and ideas" at the company. (News Corp is now chaired by Rupert Murdoch's son, Lachlan.)

The Wall Street Journal article, headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping,” boasts that it is based on "interviews with more than 45 people over several months." But only one person is quoted on the record supporting the thesis of the piece: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house,” McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal. “He’s not the same person.”

Relying on McCarthy as the lynchpin of the article is problematic. First, McCarthy is not a neutral observer. He is a partisan Republican interested in inflicting political damage on Biden. Further, what McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal about Biden is directly contradicted by comments that McCarthy said previously — both publicly and privately. In the article, McCarthy criticizes Biden's performance in debt ceiling negotiations in 2023. But in March 2023, while these negotiations were underway, the New York Times reported that "McCarthy has told allies that he has found Mr. Biden to be mentally sharp in meetings." McCarthy made similar comments about Biden in public, praising Biden as "[v]ery professional, very smart" and "[v]ery tough at the same time." In October, when McCarthy was ousted as House Speaker, Politico reported that McCarthy "mocked Biden’s age and mental acuity in public, while privately telling allies that he found the president sharp and substantive in their conversations."

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