This article tackles the media’s obsession with Joe Biden’s health, the history of presidential medical cover-ups, and how the press ignores more pressing problems—especially the current president’s public meltdowns and unchecked abuses of power. We’ll examine the culture of elite media, its pattern of missing the point, and why partisan politics keep repeating the same cycle of distraction and betrayal.
Biden’s Health as Gossip—Not News
The American media has entered another cycle of handwringing, this time over stories about Joe Biden’s final months in office and his medical condition. Yet, despite the headline-grabbing, none of this so-called “scandal” meaningfully affects ordinary Americans. Linking the “cover-up” to future election outcomes is pure speculation at best—and delusion at worst. The political press corps, from Axios to CNN, is serving up palace intrigue as if it were hard news, crowding out far more pressing stories about the direction of the country.
Meanwhile, the man who replaced Biden has upended the economy, bulldozed legal norms, and—most glaringly—acts out in public with statements and behavior far more erratic than anything seen in Biden’s tenure. The president’s rants about pop stars and bizarre all-caps accusations make clear which leadership crisis is playing out in plain sight. Still, media fixates on health gossip.
Media Echo Chambers and Manufactured Scandal
A handful of influential outlets and personalities—Axios, “Tiger Beat on the Potomac,” and CNN’s Jake Tapper among them—have turned Biden’s health into a cottage industry. Book launches, self-important White House Correspondents’ Dinner speeches, and endless panel discussions build a sense of scandal that, in historical perspective, is neither unique nor unprecedented.
Presidential Illness: This Isn’t New
Presidents and their teams have long kept medical secrets. Grover Cleveland’s cancer surgery, FDR’s wheelchair, Eisenhower’s heart issues, JFK’s myriad conditions, Nixon’s crisis drinking, and Ronald Reagan’s concealed Alzheimer’s all came to light after the fact—without causing permanent damage to American democracy or the media’s reputation. What’s different now is a media environment addicted to scandal and distraction, plus a White House desperate to change the subject from its own crises.
The Real Damage: Distraction from Actual Abuse of Power
While cable news panels debate Biden’s physical decline, the current administration’s daily attacks on democratic norms, regulatory rollbacks, and targeted cruelty toward vulnerable people go under-reported. The media’s fixation provides perfect cover for more serious abuses. Every Democratic candidate is now pressed to answer for a “cover-up,” while Republican narratives remain tightly unified.
“Republicans get their story and stick to it. Democrats get their story and stick it to each other.”
- Biden’s health, though concerning, is no more secretive than presidential illnesses of the past.
- Elite media prefers personality-driven controversy to coverage of real threats to democracy.
- The spectacle allows the current administration’s abuses to slip by with less scrutiny.
- Democratic infighting over media narratives only reinforces the cycle.
America’s Leadership Crisis Isn’t About Age—It’s About Accountability
The endless headlines about Biden’s medical records aren’t just missing the point—they’re letting deeper crises fester. The real story isn’t gossip about a president’s decline, but the unchecked power, erratic leadership, and media-enabled distractions that threaten the heart of American democracy.
