Sometimes in life, it is only once a crisis passes that we can truly see just how awful and harmful it was. This week, in these pages, Joseph Wulfsohn offered a long read, detailing the prevarications of the mainstream media in the Joe Biden era, and its complicity in the lie of the century.

You should read the whole damning thing, as only now journalists begin to admit their duplicitous role in propping up Biden. I applaud Wulfsohn for persevering. I would have thrown a coffee mug through my laptop about halfway through writing it out of sheer anger.

SHIELDING BIDEN: JOURNALISTS SHED LIGHT ON THE MEDIA'S COVER-UP OF A WEAKENED PRESIDENT

The story begins at the beginning with the cover-up of the Hunter Biden laptop, and here is what Marc Caputo, then at Politico, had to say about his coverage of the first son's crime-scene-on-a-hard-drive being quashed:

"...I wrote what would have been a classic story…That story was killed by the editors. And they gave no explanation for that either," Caputo said on the "Somebody's Gotta Win" podcast.

I’d like to offer Caputo the explanation he was denied. You see, the people who signed Caputo’s checks back then, along with 90% of corporate media, wanted Donald Trump to lose and Biden to win. If that meant killing true stories and smearing honest journalists then so be it.

And it wasn’t just Politico burying the laptop. Wulfsohn has the receipts and shows that Jake Tapper and Brian Seltzer, who both still pontificate from CNN daily, also hid the story, as did NPR, and almost every major newspaper in the country that isn’t called the New York Post.

As bad as the lies surrounding the laptop were, they paled in comparison to what would come next, an all-out, no-holds barred effort by the liberal media to conceal Biden’s obvious and dangerous mental decline. 

Just weeks before Biden’s disastrous debate performance, NBC News was warning its viewers not to believe their lying eyes about Grandpa Joe’s decline, writing, "Experts have warned that while advanced technology like generative artificial intelligence can spread misinformation, so-called ‘cheap fakes’ that often use only minor or selective editing can be more effective at spreading false narratives."

Never forget that they really tried to pull this on you.

And do not accept the Johnny-Come-Lately excuses we now hear from the exposed liars in the news media, such as the Manchester Guardian’s David Smith, who said recently, "There was perhaps, even on an unconscious level, the notion that if you focus so much on Joe Biden's age, you are somehow helping Donald Trump." 

An unconscious level? What the hell does this even mean? Biden would regularly stumble around a stage shaking hands with the air and all the liberal reporters in the country just couldn’t see it because they had some Freudian mind block, or something?

Here is how The New York Times’ Peter Baker addressed the lies about Biden fitness: "It's very personal. Anybody who's had a father or mother who is aged, and you talk to them by taking away their keys, these are not easy issues…I can sit down and make the case that we did too little about it. I can make the case we did too much. I can play it either way. But the truth is, it's an important issue."

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This so-called journalist claims he can make the case that too much was made of Biden’s age in the media. It is abject madness, and it is infuriating, because it shows that they have learned absolutely nothing, and they plan to continue with their lies.

Hiding Biden’s infirmity, the fact that he was by no means actually in charge of the country, is the lie of the century. Every journalist who perpetuated it through their dishonesty or negligence should never work in the industry again.

The liberal news media, which is the vast majority of the nation’s news media, didn't just get the laptop story wrong or simply miss the signs of Biden’s decline. They intentionally misled the American people in a desperate, dishonest, and thankfully failed, effort to defeat Trump. 

That is not forgivable.

Sadly, these Democratic Party propaganda machines posing as news outlets still have no shame or self awareness, and show no signs of righting their sinking ships. But the good news is that Americans are hip to the lies now, almost laughably so.

The liberal media can continue fooling itself, giving each other awards, talking gravely about the importance of truth in the age of Trump. But they themselves are the biggest liars of that age and now the American people, thanks in part to real journalists like Joseph Wulfsohn, damn well know it.

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The unprecedented cover-up of Joe Biden is finally seeing sunlight. 

Critics of the legacy media have long accused news organizations of shielding the 46th president from bad press, particularly when it came to revelations of his family's shady financial dealings as well as his cognitive decline, which was put on full display at last year's CNN debate resulting in his exit from the 2024 presidential race. 

Efforts to cover up for Biden began as early as May 2019 as the primary race for the 2020 Democratic nomination was underway. Last week, former Politico reporter Marc Caputo shed light on a report he had written at the time that stemmed from opposition research from the campaign by one of Biden's Democratic rivals. The report involved a "tax lien" on Biden's son Hunter pertaining to his work at Ukrainian energy company Burisma. At the time, the former vice president held a substantial lead over Democratic candidates in the polls. 

"And I wrote what would have been a classic story saying, you know, ‘The former vice president’s son was slapped with a big tax lien for the period of time that he worked for this controversial Ukrainian oil concern, or natural gas concern, which is haunting his father on the campaign trail.' That story was killed by the editors. And they gave no explanation for that either," Caputo said on the "Somebody's Gotta Win" podcast.

EX-POLITICO REPORTERS REVEAL EDITORS QUASHED, SLOW-WALKED NEGATIVE BIDEN STORIES ‘WITH NO EXPLANATION’

Fast-forward to October 2020. Biden had secured the Democratic nomination and maintained a narrower lead in the polls against then-incumbent President Trump. The New York Post published its bombshell report on Hunter Biden's laptop, offering unprecedented insight into his overseas finances and their potential ties to his father. 

"I was covering Biden at the time, and I remember coming to my editor and saying, ‘Hey, we need to write about the Hunter Biden laptop.’ And I was told this came from on high at Politico: Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop," Caputo said. 

Caputo, now with Axios, called out Politico's one and only story about the laptop, which he referred to as the "ill-fated headline" that read "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say." The report cited an open letter signed by 51 intelligence officials declaring that the material from the laptop had "all the earmarks of a Russian intelligence operation."

Then-candidate Biden cited the open letter while dismissing the laptop revelations as a "Russian plant" during the second presidential debate with Trump.

Politico wasn't the only one that was caught turning a blind eye towards Hunter Biden's laptop. A leaked audio recording obtained by Project Veritas showed top CNN executives directing staff not to cover the controversy. 

"Obviously, we're not going with the New York Post story right now on Hunter Biden," CNN political director David Chalian said during a conference call on Oct. 14, the same day the Post published its first story on Hunter Biden's emails. Chalian later insisted the report was "giving its marching orders" to the "right-wing echo chamber about what to talk about today."

"The Trump media, you know, moves immediately from – OK, well, never mind – the [Michael Flynn] unmasking was, you know, found to be completely nonsensical to the latest alleged scandal and expects everybody to just follow suit," then-CNN president Jeff Zucker told his staff on Oct. 16. "So, I don't think that we should be repeating unsubstantiated smears just because the right-wing media suggests that we should." 

FROM ‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’ TO ‘RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION,’ LIBERAL MEDIA TEAMED UP TO DISMISS HUNTER BIDEN STORY

Several CNN stars echoed their bosses' dismissive stance on the brewing scandal to their viewers.

"There's a lot about this story that does not add up," CNN's Brian Stelter told his viewers at the time. "And, I mean, for all we know, these emails were made up, or maybe some are real and some are fakes, we don't know. But we do know that this is a classic example of the right-wing media machine."

"The right wing is going crazy with all sorts of allegations about Biden and his family. Too disgusting to even repeat here," Jake Tapper said during a segment. "I mean, some of the ones I've seen from the president's son and some of the president's supporters are just wildly unhinged."

Much of the legacy media either offered minimal coverage rejecting the scandal or offered zero coverage altogether. ABC News' George Stephanopoulos completely avoided mentioning the laptop during a Biden town hall he moderated. Social media giants blocked users from sharing  The New York Post's reporting on their platforms. 

NPR public editor Kelly McBride addressed a listener's question about the news outlet's blackout of the Hunter Biden story. After claiming that the Post's reporting had "many, many red flags," including its potential ties to Russia, NPR apparently determined that the "assertions don’t amount to much."

"We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions," NPR managing editor Terence Samuel told McBride. "And quite frankly, that's where we ended up, this was … a politically driven event, and we decided to treat it that way."

LOOKING BACK ON 2024: LIBERAL MEDIA INSISTED BIDEN WAS STILL SHARP UNTIL DEBATE DEBACLE EXPOSED HIM

Last year, veteran NPR editor Uri Berliner came forward suggesting that the decision not to cover the laptop was politically motivated.

"The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump," Berliner wrote in a tell-all essay about NPR for The Free Press. 

Berliner was later forced out of NPR and has since joined The Free Press as an editor. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald similarly blew the whistle on The Intercept, the news outlet he co-founded, alleging "repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity" from its editors aiding Biden's campaign just days before the 2020 election. 

"The Intercept’s editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week, refusing to publish it unless I remove all sections critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the candidate vehemently supported by all New-York-based Intercept editors involved in this effort at suppression," Greenwald wrote in October 2020.

Even after Biden won the presidency and was sworn into office, reporting about his scandal-plagued son was still being slow-walked, at least according to former Politico reporter Tara Palmeri, who broke the story of Hunter Biden's gun incident that led to a felony charge for lying about his drug use on a gun form. 

"I spent three months on it, I went to the laptop shop, and I did all of the reporting in Delaware, and I did all of that. But yeah it had, it had to be like much- it had to be 100% nailed down," Palmeri told Caputo on the podcast. "I had everything, you know, the police reports… I’m a solid reporter. But I do wonder if it could have, if it would have been published a little quicker if it was a different type of story."

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Palmeri expanded on how her bosses dragged their feet before running her story.

"I certainly had to push very hard to get that reporting published. Like, it was a constant, 'Hey, when are we going to do this? Hey, when are we going to get this out there? Hey, when we're going to do this?' Because it was so difficult. Like it was kind of a known feeling that like, it's gonna be difficult to report stuff that's really tough on the Biden administration and family. It's just like a culture." Palmeri told Fox News Digital last week. "And I think when the culture is that a reporter has to push so hard that it just creates a feeling that there's not an interest in that type of reporting. And ultimately, you know, we work to be published and to get our editors to support our work."

BIDEN LASHES OUT AT REPORTERS ASKING ABOUT AGE CONCERNS AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT: 'THAT IS YOUR JUDGMENT!'

Palmeri, now with Puck News, said she first obtained the police report shortly after Biden's inauguration in January 2021, but her story wasn't published until late March 2021.

"I just think if it was a Trump kid, it would have been published much sooner," Palmeri said. "I just had to work really hard to like- you're like 'Hey, what's going on with the story? Hey, what's going on with the story? Like, what's going on with the story?' We gave the White House a lot of time, like a week or so to respond. I don't know if that would have been the case for a Trump story."

The former Politico journalist went on to cite the "honeymoon phase" of the Biden administration as being a factor behind the slowed pace of her story.  She also suggested her bosses wouldn't run the story unless she was able to link it to a federal agency.

"It had to be about the fact that the Secret Service was involved," Palmeri told Fox News Digital. "The blanket fact that he lied on the gun form, which I had. I had the gun form and I pointed out that he lied on it. But in the piece, we downplayed it and said, ‘Although many people lie on gun forms and are not prosecuted for it’ which is true, by the way. But it's not like the headline wasn't ‘Hunter Biden lies on gun form,’ which is a felony. That was not the headline even though I had the gun form in which he lied."

It wasn't until 2022 that the media began conceding legitimacy to the controversies surrounding Hunter Biden. Several news organizations that dismissed the laptop like Politico, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News and CBS News ultimately verified the laptop. 

The shielding of Joe Biden evolved to encompass not just questions about his family's finances but about the president's own health. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Biden was having "good days and bad days" for White House staff to deal with as early as spring 2021. 

"Yet a sign that the bruising presidential schedule needed to be adjusted for Biden’s advanced age had arisen early on—in just the first few months of his term. Administration officials noticed that the president became tired if meetings went long and would make mistakes," the Journal wrote. 

BIDEN ADMIN OFFICIALS NOTICED STAMINA ISSUES IN PRESIDENT'S FIRST FEW MONTHS IN OFFICE: REPORT

It appears White House staff weren't the only ones aiding Biden. Former ESPN host Sage Steele revealed her March 2021 interview was "scripted" by network executives. 

"That was an interesting experience in its own right because it was so structured," Steele told Fox News Digital in April 2024. "And I was told, ‘You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script and go.’" 

"To the word. Every single question was scripted, gone over dozens of times by many editors and executives. Absolutely. I was on script and was told not to deviate," Steele said. "It was very much ‘This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next.' … This went up to the fourth floor, as we said, where all the bosses, the top executives, the decision makers are, the president of our company, the CEO, where they all worked."

Two other Biden interviewers, on the condition of anonymity, previously spoke with Fox News Digital about their experience with the president's frailty. 

"I was left with the impression that he is old, and it's impossible not to notice this and be focused on it. His voice is so soft," one interviewer said. The other said "I will say he was careful not to go on at length with answers. It was clear he was trying to edit himself, possibly because he’d been coached to keep answers short." Both noticed his "stiff" physical presence. 

The media's efforts to dismiss concerns over Biden's mental decline went into high gear in 2024, particularly when he became the presumptive Democratic nominee. News organizations seethed after the February release of Special Counsel Robert Hur's damning report on Biden's handling of classified documents that described him as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." 

The New York Times went with the "Republicans pounce" framing when covering Biden's reported memory issues, Jeffrey Toobin returned to CNN to insist Hur made "unnecessary points" about Biden’s advanced age, and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow gushed that everything is fine because Biden still "rides a bike." 

Later in the year, the media ran the White House's talking points that accused conservatives of peddling "cheap fakes" when moments that showed Biden wandering or freezing up went viral. 

"Experts have warned that while advanced technology like generative artificial intelligence can spread misinformation, so-called cheap fakes that often use only minor or selective editing can be more effective at spreading false narratives," NBC News wrote in reaction to one viral moment. 

LIBERAL MEDIA OUTLETS ‘RUNNING COVER’ FOR BIDEN BY CALLING VIRAL CLIPS ‘CHEAP FAKES,’ CRITICS SAY

The Washington Post similarly elevated the term "cheap fakes," telling readers such "deceptively edited videos… misrepresent events simply by manipulating video or audio, or by leaving out context" and that they've "become staples of Republican attacks against Biden." 

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace condemned the "highly misleading & selectively edited videos" while refusing to show the raw footage to viewers. CBS News released a report sounding the alarm on "cheap fakes" and their impact in the upcoming election, echoing the White House's claim that Biden is "victim to a simpler version of ‘deepfakes.’"

The Associated Press ran its own fact-check on the video showing Biden standing still at his star-studded LA fundraiser until former President Obama was seen grabbing his wrist and guiding him off the stage with his hand behind Biden's back. 

"CLAIM: Biden froze onstage during his fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night and had to be led away by Obama," AP wrote at the time. "THE FACTS: Biden paused amid cheers and applause as he exited the stage with his predecessor following an interview moderated by late-night host Kimmel."

Notably, actor George Clooney, who attended the LA fundraiser that the AP fact-checked, came clean in the now-infamous New York Times op-ed revealing the Biden he saw just weeks prior "was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."

In June, just weeks before the CNN debate, The Wall Street Journal published a bombshell report about Biden's "signs of slipping" behind closed doors. It was met with strong hostility from liberal pundits. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" declared the report was a "Trump hit piece on Biden." Then-CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy accused the paper of "playing into a GOP-propelled narrative" and that it "owes its readers — and the public — better." 

It wasn't until after Biden's disastrous debate performance and his exit from the 2024 race that journalists began expressing regret over their lack of coverage of his cognitive decline.

New York Times correspondent Peter Baker suggested journalists broadly need to do some "soul-searching" on how they handled covering Biden. 

NYT, MSNBC, PBS JOURNALISTS PRESSED ON HOW THEY COVERED BIDEN'S AGE: WE PROBABLY NEED TO DO ‘SOUL-SEARCHING’

"It's very personal. Anybody who's had a father or mother whose age and you talk to them by taking away their keys, these are not easy issues… And how do you write something in the appropriate way, balanced and yet tough," Baker said in September during a panel discussion at the Texas Tribune Festival. "I can sit down and make the case that we did too little about it. I can make the case we did too much. I can play it either way. But the truth is, it's an important issue."

"We weren't relentlessly covering, the way some of my peers were, Biden's age necessarily, even all the way up until the debate," PBS NewsHour's Laura Barrón-López said in the same panel. "It is and was a valid question. Many times when I was on the trail, even before the debate, voters would bring it up. Almost every single voter I spoke to would bring it up, even if they were planning to vote for President Biden."

The Guardian's David Smith, also on the panel, conceded the possibility of bias: "There was perhaps, even on an unconscious level, the notion that if you focus so much on Joe Biden's age, you are somehow helping Donald Trump." 

In December, ex-CNN editor-at-large Chris Cilizza offered an "apology" for not pushing hard enough to question Biden's mental health, admitting he felt guilty of "age shaming" by the president's allies. 

"While I did ask the question from time to time… I didn't really push on it, if I'm being honest," Cillizza said in a video message. "I probably should've pushed harder on the Biden age stuff because, in retrospect, it's clear that the people close to him knew that at best, he had some good days and some bad days."

"And so I think it's a lesson that we have to learn going forward. Because again, Donald Trump will be the oldest person ever to hold office if he serves for four years, and I will be mindful of that. Because again, asking those questions isn't a partisan thing. Asking those questions is a journalism thing, and I should have pushed harder and not been as willing to accept the 'Nah, he's fine. Look at him when he's in public' campaign," he added. 

The New York Times published a report that President Biden used teleprompters for small fundraisers hosted at private homes, which alarmed his donors. 

According to the four Times reporters on Friday, the president's inner circle "had Mr. Biden use a teleprompter for even small fund-raisers in private homes, alarming donors, who were asked to provide questions beforehand."

Biden has made headlines throughout his presidency for blunders related to his use of teleprompters.

BIDEN'S EFFORTS TO SHOW 'VIGOR' BACKFIRED, SHOWED HIS ADVANCED AGE: REPORT

In April 2024, Biden, reading off a teleprompter, appeared to incorporate script instructions in the middle of his speech, resulting in an awkward applause line. The moment came during a section of his remarks straight out of a campaign stump speech.

"I see an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it. I see an America where we protect freedoms, not take them away," Biden said. "I see an economy that grows a lot in the bottom up where the wealthy pay their fair share, so we can have child care, paid leave and so much more, and still reduce the federal deficit and increase economic growth."

"Folks, imagine what we could do next. Four more years — pause," he said, before laughing.

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Biden claimed in July 2024, during an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, that he is "on the horse," and doesn't need notes or teleprompters for his speeches.

"I’m on the horse," Biden angrily insisted when Holt asked if Biden would look to "get back on the horse" ahead of a second debate with Donald Trump in September. "I’ve done 22 major events and thousands of people. Overwhelming crowds. A lot happening. I’m on the horse." 

"What I’m doing is going out and demonstrating to the American people that I have command of all my faculties, that I don’t need notes, I don’t need teleprompters," Biden continued. "I can go out and answer any questions at all, and I stood there when NATO was in town, stood there for an hour and answered questions." 

The White House did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Peter Aitken contributed to this report. 

A former senior White House staffer lamented in a comment to the BBC that President Biden was like a "different person" compared to the earlier days of his administration.

"Watching Biden speak, I'm like, oh my God, this is a different person," a senior staffer in the Biden White House told the outlet in a piece about the president's legacy. "Maybe it's simply that when you're there every day, you don't see it."

As the president prepares to exit the White House, Biden has expressed regrets about dropping out of the race in the wake of Vice President Kamala Harris' loss to President-elect Donald Trump, and said he thinks he could have beaten him.

"As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration," the same senior staffer told the BBC.

BIDEN RIPPED FOR 'SLAP IN THE FACE' TO CRIME VICTIMS AFTER AWARDING SOROS MEDAL OF FREEDOM: 'DISGUSTING'

Democratic strategist Susan Estrich told the BBC that Biden's legacy was essentially that Trump's presidency would book-end his own. 

"He'd like his legacy to be that he rescued us from Trump," Estrich said. "But sadly, for him, his legacy is Trump again. He is the bridge from Trump One to Trump Two."

The BBC report also noted a comment from another senior Biden official, who lamented that the White House was more decisive early on in the presidency.

"As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration," the individual told the BBC.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

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BBC reporter Anthony Zurcher said he asked Attorney Merrick Garland how history would grade the Biden administration.

"I'll leave that to the historians," he replied, according to the outlet.

Biden revealed how he hopes to be remembered during an interview with USA Today's Susan page.

"I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world," he said. "That was my hope."

"And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity, that I said what was on my mind," he said.

President Biden’s fumble went viral across social media after another embarrassing gaffe while singing "Happy Birthday" to a White House guest.

During an event marking the signing of the Social Security Fairness Act on Sunday, Biden attempted to sing "Happy Birthday" to 17-year-old Eliseo Jimenez. Jimenez became nationally known after he walked from Lubbock, Texas, to Washington, D.C. in order to spread awareness about the limits of Social Security. 

"Eliseo is just around the corner from receiving Social Security," Biden joked before announcing that Jimenez's birthday was the next day.

Less than a minute later, Biden appeared to either forget his name entirely or how to correctly say it while leading the audience in singing "Happy Birthday," mumbling instead as the crowd sang, "…dear Eliseo." The mumble was so pronounced that Jimenez reacted and laughed as if it were a joke.

This verbal error from Biden was the latest of many gaffes that have made Americans, particularly his critics, skeptical about his mental acuity and wary of his defenders.

Footage of this latest incident went viral, as many of Biden’s critics made jokes at his expense and celebrated the forthcoming end of his presidency.

"Biden brought a guy on stage to sing happy birthday to him... The problem is he either doesn't know his name or forgot it... and mumbled nonsense instead," comedian and podcaster Tim Young said. "Only 15 more days of this..."

BIDEN MOCKED AFTER ‘I'M IN THE 20TH CENTURY' GAFFE

Economic analyst and former DeSantis staffer Kyle Lamb joked that Biden’s performance is like "Me when I'm in the car and after the chorus, the second verse begins and I'm trying to confidently assure myself I know the lyrics."

The Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller offered a similar comparison, suggesting Biden’s rendition is like, "Me every time the restaurant starts singing to the stupid kid."

"This is the most Joe Biden thing ever," American Institute for Economic Research senior editor Jon Miltimore joked.

American Compass managing editor Drew Holden argued, "It’s horrifying to imagine the consequences of Biden’s cognitive decline that will only be reported after he shuffles off the public stage. The most powerful man in the world’s brain doesn’t work. Those who wish us ill aren’t unaware."

BIDEN TAKES HEAT OVER GAFFE URGING AMERICANS TO ‘CHOOSE FREEDOM OVER DEMOCRACY'

"It continues to horrify me that the biggest media story in the universe isn’t the ongoing mental deterioration of the President of the United States, in full view of the world," he added in another post.

"He most definitely did NOT remember his name and just mumbled through it," podcast host Shawn Farash said, before suggesting that Biden’s defenders "used to call this a ‘Cheap Fake’ video."

This is not the first incident where Biden appeared to forget someone's name while singing "Happy Birthday" to them.

The president appeared to bungle Arndrea Waters King's name while singing the birthday song to her in January 2023 at the National Action Network’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday breakfast.

"Well, my wife has a rule in my family. When it's somebody's birthday, sing Happy Birthday," he said before he started singing to the wife of Martin Luther King III, the civil rights leader's eldest son.

Biden appeared to forget King's name in the final verse before quickly moving on. He began the song as the audience chimed in, but as he got to the portion with her name, he appeared to say, "Happy Birthday, dear Valen," trailing off.

"Well, it's hell turning 30, but you've got to put up with it," he joked. 

Members of the media, top Democrats and other leadership ran a passionate defense of President Biden throughout his term as questions swirled around the president's ability to serve a second term, and his mental fitness prior to him eventually dropping out of the race. 

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Biden's stamina issues were apparent within his first few months in office, citing interviews with nearly 50 people, including current and former White House staffers who interacted directly with the president.

One former aide recalled a national security official explaining why a meeting in the spring of 2021 was canceled altogether. 

"He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow," he recalled the official saying. 

The White House pushed back on the substance of the Journal's report in a statement provided to Fox News Digital this week, saying Biden's policy accomplishments provide "indisputable proof" of his qualifications and leadership.

"President Biden speaks with members of his Cabinet daily, and with most members multiple times a week, staying in close touch with them about implementation of key laws and strengthening our national security. During every presidency, there are inevitably some in Washington who do not receive as much time with whomever the president is as they would prefer; but that never means that the president isn’t engaging thoroughly with others, as this president does," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

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Top leadership and some in the media have proudly defended the president against concerns about his capabilities throughout his term.

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough offered a passionate defense of Biden in March amid many concerns over whether the president had the ability to serve a second term.

He had words for Americans who questioned the president's fitness and said during the live broadcast, "F -you." 

"I've said it for years now, he's cogent. But I undersold it when I said he was cogent, he's far beyond cogent. In fact, I think he's better than he's ever been, intellectually, analytically, because he's been around for fifty-years," Scarborough said. "Start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And f-you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever." 

"Not a close second, and I've known him for years, the Brzezinski's have known him for fifty years, if it weren't the truth, I wouldn't say it," Scarborough added. 

After the June debate that ultimately led to the president dropping out, Scarborough lamented that the president missed layup after layup against President-elect Donald Trump. Scarborough also dismissed a WSJ report that was published in June about the president's abilities, which he called a "Trump hit piece."

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Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly defended her boss against attacks on his ability to serve. Two weeks before the election, Harris sat down with NBC News' Hallie Jackson, who asked if she could say that she was "honest" with Americans who have concerns about Biden's age.

"Joe Biden is an extremely accomplished, experienced and capable in every way that anyone would want if they're president," she said during the interview. 

She said the president's debate performance in June was just a "bad night."

During her first sit-down interview as the presidential candidate in August, Harris said she had no regrets about what she had told the American people with regard to Biden's health. 

"I have served with President Biden for almost four years now and I‘ll tell you, it‘s one of the greatest honors of my career, truly. He cares so deeply about the American people. He is so smart and loyal to the American people. And I have spent hours upon hours with him being in the Oval Office or the situation room. He has the intelligence, the commitment, and the judgment and disposition that I think the American people rightly deserve in their president," she said.

Harris joined "The View" in early January 2024 and also defended Biden. She accused Republicans of pushing a narrative that the president was mentally unfit because they had "nothing to run on."

During an interview with the New York Times in November 2023, Harris said that "Age is more than a chronological fact." She insisted Biden was "absolutely authoritative in rooms around the globe."

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who repeatedly dismissed questions about Biden's fitness and ability to serve throughout her time as press secretary, told CNN in June 2022 that she herself had a hard time keeping up with the president, dismissing a question posed by former CNN host Don Lemon.

"Don, you're asking me this question," a visibly stunned Jean-Pierre exclaimed. "Oh my gosh. He's the President of the United States."

The press secretary then laughed and said she sometimes struggles to even keep up with Biden.

"That is not a question that we should be even asking," she added. "Just look at the work he does. And look how he's delivering for the American public."

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Gen. Mark Milley spoke to CBS News' "60 Minutes" in October 2023 and encouraged Americans to rest easy when he was pressed on concerns about Biden's age. Milley left his Joint Chiefs of Staff post in September 2023 and was nominated to the office by Trump. 

"How people interpret that is up to them, but I engage with him frequently and alert, sound, does his homework, reads the papers, reads all the read-ahead material. And he's very, very engaging in issues of very serious matters of war and peace and life and death," Milley said. 

"So if the American people are worried about an individual who is, you know, someone who's making decisions of war and peace and has access to, you know, makes the decisions of nuclear weapons and that sort of thing, I think they can rest easy," he continued. 

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Fox News' Martha McCallum asked Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close ally of President Biden, if he had any regrets about not speaking out about Biden's ability to serve during a recent interview on her show. 

"I do not hang out with the president on the weekends. I don’t spend time with him, socializing and in person. My experience with him in the time up to that debate led me to believe that he was fully capable of competently leading our nation," Coons said. 

Coons, who took the president's Senate seat after Biden was elected as vice president, had repeatedly defended the president against attacks on his age. Fox News Digital reached out to Cabinet officials and their departments, asking them if they believed Biden was fit to serve this week, and if they stood by past statements of confidence in his ability to continue.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a statement in September, said that he has "full confidence in President Biden’s ability to carry out his job. On Monday, the DHS said that the secretary stands by those comments.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo called Biden "one of the most accomplished presidents in American history and continues to effectively lead our country with a steady hand."

A spokesperson for her office said she stood by her comments. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Fox News' Jeffrey Clark and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.