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A former CNN pundit offered a mea culpa for dismissing concerns about President Bidenmental deterioration.
Chris Cilizza, who was CNN’s managing editor before leaving the network in 2022, has been outspoken about his lack of journalistic curiosity about Biden’s terms of service after a pair of damning reports this week from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that shed light on the president’s reduced condition.
“As a journalist, I have to admit something,” Cillizza began his “apology” on his YouTube channel on Thursday. “I should have made an earlier effort to get more information about Joe Biden’s mental and physical well-being and any signs of deterioration.”
Former CNN Editor-in-Chief Chris Cillizza has issued an apology for not standing up enough for President Biden’s mental decline. (Screenshot/CNN)
Cillizza acknowledged that Republicans would “ping me regularly” during his time on CNN, asking him why he didn’t address Biden’s decline and how he would “dismiss” them since he saw no “evidence” of the president’s decline.
And not only did he admit that he trusted the White House, he admitted that he felt guilty for “embarrassing” Biden.
“The The white house and the people around Joe Biden were absolutely adamant that suggesting anything — asking questions about whether he was in a physical, mental, or both decline was offensive. “How could you? It’s a shame for the age.’ And I think it affected me on a certain level,” Cillizza said. “Because even though I did ask that question from time to time … I didn’t really push it, to be honest. Now that I’ve left CNN and I’ve gotten a little clearer about Biden’s age, I think I’ve written pretty regularly and talked pretty regularly about how I’m not sure the guy is up to it. And then apparently, after the June 27 debate, everyone, including me, was writing and talking about it.”
The former CNN pundit went on to read excerpts from the Journal’s report on Biden’s limited interactions with members of his own cabinet and Democratic lawmakers, as well as the Times’ claim that it was “hard to imagine” Biden would last another four years in the job.
President Joe Biden appears to rest his eyes during a summit meeting with African leaders in Lobito, Angola on December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
“I probably should have pushed things harder about Biden’s age because, in retrospect, it’s clear that people close to him knew that at best he had good days and bad days. On June 27, the debate was obviously bad. But if the bad day was that bad , as bad as he was on that stage, the fact that he was president without much question about his physical and mental deterioration, and I will add the fact that he continued to be president from June 27th to January 20th 2025, I think it’s a bit concerning and begs the question, like, when did the people around him know, what did they know and why didn’t they share?” Cillizza said.
“I know the press asked, and I can tell you, I mean, I know from experience, there was a shame factor that went into it. People around Biden worked to make you feel bad when you asked if he was cut out to be president, again run for president and serve as president for another four years. ‘How could you?’ … And they did a very good job, at least until they couldn’t hide it anymore, hiding it,” he continued. “But journalists, and I’m standing up here, we should have been more assertive. We should have – I shouldn’t have allowed a campaign to shame me that would make you feel bad for asking a question guess because now it’s clear from the Wall Street Journal and the article The New York Times that there was a real deterioration… and a significant decline in Joe Biden, and that it was managed by the people around him. They kind of kept the world, the political world, out there somehow in the bunker.”
“I think that’s a lesson we have to learn going forward. Because again, Donald Trump he will be the oldest person to hold office if he serves four years, and I will keep that in mind. Because again, asking those questions is not a party thing. Asking those questions is a journalistic thing and I should have tried harder and not been so ready to accept ‘No, he’s fine’. Look at him when he’s on the public campaign trail,” added Cillizza.
Cillizza said he fell for the White House’s “campaign of shame” whenever he broached the subject of Biden’s mental acumen. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
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Some critics took aim at Cillizza’s belated apology. One of them, conservative podcast host Meghan McCain, called attention to his candor, referring to a past comment he made about her late father, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during his 2008 presidential run.
“When I say this is too little too late, I mean this is absolutely pathetically too little too late,” McCain responded to X. “There was no greater and more obsessive ‘Truthful McCain’ about my father’s years when he ran in 2008 (when he had 71 years) than Chris. He ignored Biden because he’s a hack.”
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