[Auracle]

That article makes awful conclusions.

Biden’s age was a bigger factor because it was absolutely clear he was in rapid cognitive decline. No doubt it’s also happened to Trump at his age (as it does to everyone), but Biden essentially hid from any unscripted press the entirety of his Presidency.

Trump does the opposite. We can all judge his actual cognitive faculties because he’s constantly tweeting or in front of cameras. It’s pretty clear to anyone with a brain that most of the things the Biden administration did, Biden himself had very little to do with. Trump, again, is the opposite.

The NYT honestly should have been covering Biden’s decline more. It bordered on a coverup. The fact that people were surprised at his debate performance points to that.

[davidw]

But once he was out of the race and there was only one old guy, age ceased to become an issue.

That's what makes what they're doing kind of insidious. They're not making things up - Biden is indeed old. It's how they weight things and how much they push them.

There's a reason the "NYT Pitch Bot" account is so popular - it's poking fun at a real phenomenon.

[allturtles]

Are you claiming that the NYT is biased in favor of Trump? That's so hard to take seriously that I don't even know what to say to that.

[riahi]

It is. Their editor in chief sanewashed trump out of spite because Biden would not take an interview with them.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/25/new-york-t...

[davidw]

I only know what I see.

Obviously the editorial page is not in favor of Trump.

The organization as a whole... IDK, I have a suspicion that they kind of view the chaos as good for business and exciting, rather than 'boring and dull' like Biden.

It's not a blatant bias, it's more subtle than that. It does not involve spreading falsehoods. More things like 'both sides!'.

[Spooky23]

Biden has severe spinal arthritis and neuropathy in his feet. The guy walks around in pretty severe pain and suffers from a stutter.

The story of the cognitive decline was pushed aggressively by the Trump people because it’s good TV. Just like they neutralized Desantis with the weirdo campaign.

It’s pretty obvious that Trump is a turnip. I’ve heard him speak in person… the sound bites sound cogent on TV, but the dude is like a drunk monkey he can’t string sentences together. The reactionary policy isn’t out of Trump’s head, its from a little army of fascist attorneys.

Both are odious Presidents… it’s ridiculous that a country as large and powerful as the United States is led by 80 year olds.

[Auracle]

Oh, come on. Are people still using the "stutter" excuse? Go look up a video of him from 2000 or whatever. His stutter sure did get worse!

The story of cognitive decline was pushed because it was true. That's why he basically did no press, and why he used a teleprompter during times no other president would: https://archive.is/C60uH

When he did speak without one, he regularly said stuff like "they don't want me to talk about that."

I don't disagree that they're both way too old. However, the Trump we have now seems to be basically the same Trump we had in 2016. He rambles about as much as he did then. He could quickly deteriorate though - we'll see.

[davidw]

And once the race was no longer between two old guys, age ceased to matter much to a number of news outfits.

If you look at old Trump interviews, from say 20 years ago, he has absolutely degraded, and not by a small amount.

[krapp]

>And once the race was no longer between two old guys, age ceased to matter much to a number of news outfits.

Age never mattered with regards to Trump, but it was a meme with Biden even when he was VP. In terms of press coverage and popular perception it was never a race between two old guys, it was a race between "the old guy" and Trump.

[davidw]

And the press did a lot to shape that perception despite both showing signs of decline. That's the point. The coverage was skewed.

[bee_rider]

Hey what is up with Biden’s rapid decline nowadays, anyway? I guess considering the rate he was apparently declining when it was a hot-button political issue, by now he must be a vegetable by now, right?

[milesrout]

It wasn't a rapid decline. The media ignored it and covered it up but there were signs of serious cognitive decline even before he was elected.

[mmooss]

The conclusion of the research linked earlier in the thread is that the NYT covered it too much.

[milesrout]

The mainstream media essentially didn't cover it at all until halfway through the election.

[mmooss]

Who specifically do you mean by "mainstream media"?

In this discussion of the NY Times, they covered heavily and the Biden camp complained bitterly. Can you say when they started covering it?