The left-wing Washington Post admitted that Joe Biden's inner circle conspired to hide his cognitive decline, a striking reversal after the mainstream media spent years downplaying concerns about his fitness.
Without naming her, the Washington Post also indirectly implicated Vice President Kamla Harris in the cover-up.
"The 81-year-old had shown signs of slipping for a long time, but his inner circle worked to conceal his decline," the paper's editorial board wrote.
Of course, many will see the Washington Post's change in tone as a cynical shift from a newspaper that had long supported Biden throughout his presidency.
But Biden faced mounting pressure to drop his re-election campaign following a disastrous debate with President Trump on June 27.
The Wall Street Journal published a damning report about Biden's condition in early June that was widely dismissed by the mainstream media.
After the debate, mainstream media outlets and Democrats who had long dismissed Biden's cognitive decline suddenly started clamoring for his exit.
The Washington Post showered Biden with obliging praise, describing his dropout decision as "profoundly selfless" despite his spirited fight to stay in the race. Biden eventually caved and endorsed vice president Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket.
The Democrat credited with pushing Biden out, Nancy Pelosi (Ca.), praised Biden in her speech at the Democratic National Convention this week, where Harris formally accepted her party's nomination for president.
Biden insisted he did not hold any grudges in his farewell speech, which was pushed past primetime on the first night of the convention.
The Washington Post argued that Biden would have been better off not seeking re-election at all - although hardly any mainstream media were lobbying for him to step aside before June.
"In retrospect, Mr. Biden should not have sought reelection. The June 27 debate was worse than just a bad night, as the president maintained afterward. The 81-year-old had shown signs of slipping for a long time, but his inner circle worked to conceal his decline."
"He and the country would have been better off if Mr. Biden had kept his implied promise from the 2020 campaign to be a 'transitional' figure, perhaps by bowing out after the Democrats’ surprisingly good showing in the 2022 midterm elections."
