At last night’s White House Correspondents’ Association gala, more colloquially known as NerdProm, there was a rare call to reflection amidst all the media self-congratulation. In it, though, there was unwarranted absolution.
Watch the non-acknowledgement of Thompson’s speech in acceptance of the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence:
NERDPROM MEA CULPA by @AlexThomp: "We, myself included, missed a lot of (Biden's cognitive decline). And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows." pic.twitter.com/YeWLYD2rIM
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 27, 2025
ALEX THOMPSON: One serious note: to my bones I believe that reporting and the White House Correspondents’ Association is as necessary as ever. President Biden's decline and its cover up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception. But being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of the story. And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows.
[Applause]
I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust. And being defensive about them further erodes it. We should have done better. I believe our mission is vital in a world where people are struggling to figure out what's true, and people with power are not telling the truth. I also believe that this association has been, is, and will continue to be critical to that mission. Thank you to the association's leadership for your unflinching defense of the First Amendment. Not just now, but always. Your decades of daily battles on behalf of reporters is why this award is one of the great honors of my life. Oh. One last thing. I love you, Mom. Thank you guys.
The broader issue lies with the tone of Thompson’s speech. If there’s one guy in the Washington press corps who got an early jump on Biden’s decline, it’s Thompson. He has, therefore, the standing to admit to “missing” parts of the story. But none whatsoever to absolve everyone else’s willful concealment of what was obvious to anyone who could see what was in front of their face. This wasn’t a “miss”, but a deliberate effort to conceal Biden’s decline- the greatest political hoax played upon the American people, which only revealed itself because Biden’s team decided to challenge Donald Trump to a debate.
The Washington press corps, Thompson notwithstanding, treated anyone who remarked on Biden’s obvious decline as an unhinged conspiracy theorist. Recall Thompson’s “Original Sin” coauthor, Jake Tapper, as he tore into Lara Trump for suggesting Biden was off…in 2020.
Seems like a good time to remind everyone that in 2020 Jake Tapper, first, accused me of making fun of people with a stutter (an atrocious accusation) and then attempted to shut me down and ended our interview when I tried to warn people of Joe Biden’s very obvious cognitive… pic.twitter.com/ZOxSGQP13J
— Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) June 27, 2024
At every step of the way, the media were willing participants in the conspiracy to hide Biden’s cognitive slide off a cliff. Mind you, this is in addition to all the other hoaxes spread by the media, including: Russiagate, Very Fine People, Covid Wet Market Origin Theory, Cheap Fakes and, of course, the Bloodbath Hoax among many others.
The media didn’t destroy their credibility overnight, and it wasn’t just by covering for Biden’s decline. This was a systemic effort going back many years and which Thompson unfortunately glossed over in service of his peers.
