Joe Biden and the Media’s Years of Propaganda

As the clock winds down on another tumultuous year, it’s worth pausing to reflect on just how thoroughly the media betrayed its duty in 2024. This wasn’t merely a case of journalistic oversight. No, what we witnessed was something far more sinister: a coordinated effort to obscure the truth about Joe Biden and sell a false narrative to the American people.

From the start, the press has been complicit in propping up a man whose physical and mental deterioration could no longer be ignored by anyone paying attention. This was not reporting. This was propaganda. Time and again, we saw reporters and political operatives rush to defend Biden against even the most basic scrutiny, spinning his obvious problems as mere gaffes, his visible decline as “charm,” and his lack of transparency as leadership. Mounting evidence of his lapses were “gaffes” or were samples of his “folksy” demeanor. For the media, finding a new way to excuse an obviously failing president must have felt like dancing on the head of a pin.

And then there’s the grotesque gaslighting surrounding Hunter Biden. We were assured—repeatedly and emphatically by Joe Biden himself—that the Biden scion was never involved in his son’s business dealings. Yet, as 2024 drew to a close, and only after a lawsuit by America First Legal in 2022, the National Archives finally released damning photos of Joe Biden not only meeting with Hunter’s Chinese business associates but also rubbing shoulders with Chinese Communist Party leadership. These weren’t anonymous sources or “rumors.” These were photographs—cold, hard evidence of the Biden family’s entanglements. Law professor Jonathan Turley noted on X that the media continuing to cover for Biden—in this instance by ignoring the release of the photos—is why the “public is abandoning legacy media for new media.”

Why were the photographs released only after the election? Biden and Obama fought it, of course. AFL reported in their announcement of the release on X: “Lawyers and representatives for President Biden and President Obama delayed NARA’s release of these photos — as they did with other critical records — until after Election Day.”

And what did the legacy media do? They downplayed it, ignored it, or, worse, tried to dismiss it altogether.

The same playbook was used to cover up Biden’s decline. For years, anyone who pointed out his increasingly frail condition or inability to answer basic questions was smeared as a conspiracy theorist. “Cheap fake” videos, the media called them, as though live, unedited footage of the president struggling to string together coherent thoughts could be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Ironically, it is this ridiculous, yet widely embraced narrative, that exposes the fact that the Democratic Party, the Biden regime, and legacy media knew of Biden’s problems and actively worked to concoct an absurd narrative which was duly reported on by legacy media, all at once, as though it was the newly discovered reality. Instead, it was their newly discovered—and desperate—propaganda.

As Biden’s cognitive lapses became impossible to deny, the press persisted in its charade, and other Democrat boosters pulled from the bench like actor Michael Douglas, were enlisted to help gaslight Americans by insisting that Biden was “sharp as a tack.” Never were they concerned about the danger this posed to the country. The only thing that mattered was continuing the cover up.

The media’s compliance with Democratic narratives only became worthy of noticing and denouncing after the election. CBS News’ Chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford raised eyebrows with her rather late admission this past weekend that the media had not done a good job covering Biden’s cognitive condition. The Daily Caller reported, “CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford admitted Sunday that the media should have been covering President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, but not for the reason you might think. Rather than take a principled stand on the journalistic ethics of the media ignoring what she called ‘Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline,’ Crawford lamented that her and the media’s lack of scrutiny cost the Democrats a chance to run a better candidate.”

For legacy media, their reflection and mea culpas are never about being wrong, but how their “missteps,” or “mistakes” or “lack of scrutiny” cost them something politically. This is the lament of political activists, not journalists.

The damage from this relentless gaslighting cannot be overstated. By refusing to report honestly, legacy media attempted to rob the American people of the ability to make informed decisions. This, in part, explains Kamala Harris’ 74 million votes for the presidency. But that was perhaps the point. They elevated partisan loyalty over the truth, eroding public trust and enabling the Biden administration, and the Democratic Party, to avoid accountability at every turn.

This New Year’s Eve, as we reflect on the past year and look ahead to 2025, we must confront the reality of what 2024’s roller coaster of news or gaslighting has reminded us: a free press willing to challenge everyone in power—not just the Republicans—remains an imperative key to the success of our republic. The media’s defense of Joe Biden wasn’t just biased; it was dangerous. Legacy media is paying a price, as Americans turn away from traditional sources of news to other, more egalitarian platforms, like social media, podcasts, and independent broadcasting. For all journalists, it’s time they recommit to their foundational role: serving the public with integrity, courage, and an unwavering commitment to the truth—for everyone.

Tammy Bruce, an Independent Conservative, has traversed a unique political journey that reflects her commitment to principles rather than party affiliations. She joined Fox News in 2005 as a Political Contributor, hosting her show “Get Tammy Bruce” on Fox Nation and providing insightful commentary on various issues for the Association for Mature Americans (AMAC).