We hope you get better, Joe Biden. We'd also like the truth
Under normal circumstances, that would be the end of things. Common humanity would counsel everyone to take a brief break from political division to extend sympathy to the 82-year-old former president and his family in this difficult time.
But on the topic of Biden's health, these are anything but normal times. Arriving as it does squarely in the midst of a barrage of revelations about the cover-up of Biden's mental and physical decline during his presidency, the news of his cancer diagnosis raises fresh questions about how long this has been known about and whether it was concealed from the public before now.
Biden's inner circle, including his family and his doctors, have thoroughly exhausted the public's trust given their lack of candour about the former president's broader health.
The controversy has been reignited as political reporters roll out books on Biden's abortive 2024 re-election bid, which he was compelled to abandon after he malfunctioned on the debate stage in late June. New titles covering the topic include Original Sin by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, Fight by Jonathan Allen of NBC and Amie Parnes of The Hill, and 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America, by Tyler Pager of The New York Times, Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal and Isaac Arnsdorf of The Washington Post. That's a constellation of bylines from a who's who of national political journalism.
The common theme in the reporting is that the people around Biden carefully controlled access to him, bent his schedule around his declining faculties, and lied to the press. Even devoted supporters and members of his Cabinet grew alarmed at the then-president's poor memory and constricted schedule. He supposedly didn't recognise old friends, including George Clooney, a major Democratic fundraiser and one of the world's most famous men. Aides reportedly discussed needing to put Biden in a wheelchair. His staff allegedly decided against having him take a cognitive test on the theory that 'if there's no diagnosis, there's nothing to disclose'.
When special counsel Robert Hur released his report discussing Biden's memory lapses, leading Democrats fanned out to smear Hur. The just-released audio of Biden's October 2023 deposition by Hur, the disclosure of which was fought by then-attorney general Merrick Garland, wholly vindicates Hur's account of Biden's halting, befuddled demeanour.
Indeed, so self-evidently damning are the revelations to the Biden White House that much of the conservative criticism has instead focused on the press for deflecting its own role in incuriously swallowing the lies and propagating them so long as Biden was a candidate.
It came out last year that Biden's White House was taking visits from a Parkinson's specialist; the White House refused to say if he was treating the president. Biden frequently went to Delaware for the weekends, holding few public events there; unlike at the White House, his visitors were not logged. We were told again and again that Biden was a man of remarkable health, vigour, and sharpness, even when our eyes and ears told us the contrary. Polls showed for much of his presidency that large majorities of the public didn't buy it.
In public remarks in 2022, Biden cited environmental pollution in his home town as a reason why 'I, and so damn many other people I grew up with, have cancer'. The White House 'clarified' at the time that the president had misspoken.
Now, we're told that he's only discovered in the four months since leaving office that he has sufficiently advanced prostate cancer that it has spread to his bones. It's standard for men over 50 to receive regular prostate checks – and Biden turned 50 in 1992. As vice-president and as president, he would have received the best medical care the world can offer. It's little wonder that so many are questioning the official timeline.
Maybe it's a conspiracy theory to suggest that Biden, his family, and his senior aides have known for some time that he had cancer, and have been hiding his diagnosis and treatment. But the conspiracy's existence is already so extensively-reported that the only question left is what else we weren't told.
We hope you get better, Mr Biden. We'd also like the truth.
Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
E&E News
19 minutes ago
- E&E News
Flood predictions could worsen when Trump's cuts take hold
The White House is rejecting assertions from Democrats and former NOAA officials that its cuts to weather and disaster spending contributed to the Texas flooding that killed more than 100 people. But that stance sidesteps a looming reality: The vast majority of President Donald Trump's rollbacks to the agencies' funding, staffing and science have yet to land. Scientists and weather prediction experts warned that once he fulfills his agenda, areas around the country could face new risks as federal programs are degraded — from disaster warning systems and satellite observations to funding for flood projects and disaster aid. The Trump White House has proposed cutting $163 billion from the federal budget in the next fiscal year — making it the smallest in recent history. Advertisement 'Lives are going to be lost, property is going to be damaged,' said Rick Spinrad, who served as NOAA administrator under former President Joe Biden. On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Democrats who had pointed to Trump's cuts at the National Weather Service in the aftermath of the floods as 'depraved and despicable' and said the offices in the affected area were fully staffed. In fact, both offices had vacancies in key positions, according to NOAA's own records. A spokesperson for the White House budget office rejected the idea that Trump's policy ideas could affect the outcome of disasters. 'It is sad that while recovery efforts are ongoing, people are opportunistically trying to score political points by faulting unrelated budget cuts like the Green New Scam,' said Rachel Cauley. It's true that weather forecasts and warnings were accurate ahead of the disaster despite widespread cuts at the National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA. But weather predictions and forecast accuracy stand to change as Trump cements his agenda, according to a former top NOAA official and climate scientists. Hundreds of NWS officials have already lost their jobs, leaving vacancies in top meteorological roles that warn communities of looming weather extremes. The agency's basic functionality is already suffering. Billions more in federal budget cuts to agencies involved in weather and climate prediction and planning is slated for elimination. That includes cutting entire divisions of atmospheric research at NOAA, half of NASA's science division, labs that study extreme weather, weather-monitoring spacecraft now in orbit and thousands of additional scientists. The proposed Trump administration cuts are so steep to weather prediction and science that the forecast in Texas could be far more accurate than future predictions, Spinrad said. 'If you have a problem with the quality of that forecast, then you want to have a real problem with eliminating the National Severe Storms Laboratory,' Spinrad said, referring to one of the NOAA labs — an extreme weather research facility that Trump has slated for elimination. 'Our ability to improve the forecast, the understanding and the guidance with respect to responding to events like this is only going to degrade, not improve, and this is after decades and decades of improvement in all of these forecasts.' That includes tools for flood prediction and recovery — setting the country up for potentially worse outcomes when extreme rainfall strikes. Compromised flood predictions Chief among the proposed cuts is the elimination of NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which coordinates scientific studies on everything from extreme weather to marine ecosystems. Its facilities 'provide indispensable scientific research and analysis for meteorologists across the country,' said Tom Fahy, legislative director at the union that represents NWS employees. OAR houses a network of NOAA laboratories and 16 science consortiums involving dozens of research institutes across 33 states. Many of them study extreme weather, from hurricane research in Miami to severe thunderstorm research in Norman, Oklahoma. They also help build weather models that scientists use to forecast events like the Texas floods. Trump's proposed cuts would also hamstring one of the main tools for observing weather in real time: Our eyes in space. The proposed NASA budget would severely cut funding for spacecraft that are used for weather prediction and modeling future conditions. A number of targeted satellites are already in orbit. NASA's $7 billion science division is slated to be cut in half, with the budget ax centering on climate research. That means predicting future floods — and the development of new tools for forecasting intense rainfall events — would be compromised. The next generation of Landsat satellites is a key example. For about 50 years, the satellites have been an essential tool for monitoring and mapping floods. Their data is important 'for assessing risk, mapping the extent of damage, and planning post-disaster recovery,' according to NASA. Trump is working to eliminate its funding. A few weeks ago, Trump administration officials archived the Landsat account on X and deleted information related to the planning for Landsat Next, the tenth version of the satellite, from its webpage. Weather forecasts gradually improve as scientists add more data. But they'll likely plateau — or even degrade — as NOAA's research and observation functions vanish, many scientists warn. OAR's research 'has been amazing at developing computer models to help in the forecasting of these types of events,' said John Sokich, NWS's former director of congressional affairs, referring to the Texas floods. But if the office isn't reinstated by Congress for 2026, he said, 'that's going to stop.' Some of the agency's most valuable models for flood prediction might be in jeopardy sooner rather than later. The government's accurate forecasts of the deadly floods were made possible by a suite of high-resolution NOAA weather models designed to predict thunderstorms, Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said in a live YouTube talk Monday. Having multiple models in the system helps scientists evaluate a range of possible outcomes when severe weather is on the horizon. NOAA tried to consolidate the collection of models into a single forecasting system a few years ago. But meteorologists expressed concern that it might not perform as well, and the change was delayed. Trump plans to revive the plan. 'There's benefit in having multiple models,' Swain said. 'How expensive is it really to maintain that, as opposed to the cost of them missing a catastrophic flood?' 'A disconnect' Meanwhile, staffing cuts at NWS offices across the country are likely to take a toll over time, experts say. NWS offices were adequately staffed during the Texas floods, in part because agency officials called 'all hands on deck' to deal with the disaster, according to Fahy. But the offices still have vacancies in key roles, including a permanent meteorologist-in-charge in San Angelo and a warning coordination meteorologist in San Antonio. Other offices across the country face similar shortages, and experts have raised alarms about the potential for burnout — which can lead to forecasting errors — among exhausted staff working overtime during disasters. At the same time, Trump has cut funding for activities that help meteorologists engage with local authorities. Warning coordination meteorologists — a top position at NWS offices — serve as liaisons with emergency managers and other officials, attending meetings, conferences and tabletop exercises aimed at planning for extreme weather events. Trump has suspended travel funding for these activities, according to Fahy, which could lead to long-term breakdowns in communication and collaboration between forecasters and their communities. 'They need to be able to do this,' Fahy said. 'That is the core function of their duties, which is the outreach of their message.' According to Fahy, vacancies at the NWS offices in Texas didn't cause problems during the deadly floods. But some experts are worried that they contributed to a gap between the severity of the weather forecasts and the way local authorities communicated the dangers to the public. 'Clearly there was a disconnect — the message didn't get to the people who need it when they needed it or they didn't understand it,' said Swain. He added that the science was spot on during the floods. In this case, forecasters were still able to do their jobs. But if Trump's proposed cuts become reality? 'That will 100 percent be responsible for costing lives,' Swain said. Reporter Daniel Cusick contributed.
New York Post
21 minutes ago
- New York Post
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Shaun Maguire doubles down on Mamdani criticism after outrage over ‘Islamist agenda' X post: ‘You only embolden me'
A prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist is doubling down in the face of growing backlash over inflammatory comments he made about Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City. Despite mounting criticism, Shaun Maguire, a partner at venture capital giant Sequoia Capital and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, has remained defiant, writing on X: 'You can try everything you want to silence me, but it will just embolden me.' In another post, Maguire declared: 'There are groups that hate me: Marxists, because I'm pro Capitalism; The Pro-Palestine crowd, because I'm Pro-Israel; Leftists, because I'm Pro-Trump. All of these groups want me cancelled because I'm a loud and effective voice.' Advertisement 4 Shaun Maguire is a partner at venture capital giant Sequoia Capital and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. AFP via Getty Images In a follow-up post, he wrote: 'You only embolden me…' He added: 'To the Haters and Losers, You cannot imagine how much Love and Support I've received over the last 48 hours. We have cancelled cancel culture. Your Hate and Ignorance only fuels me.' Advertisement Maguire sparked outrage over the weekend after posting on X that Mamdani 'comes from a culture that lies about everything' and is pursuing 'his Islamist agenda.' In a follow-up post, Maguire denied that he was targeting Mamdani because he is Muslim, writing on X: 'People have lost the plot.' Maguire noted that Mamdani is 'a man who started' a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and 'defended Anwar al-Alawki' — an American-born Islamic cleric of Yemeni descent who was the first US citizen to be targeted and killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011. The post, which had received 5.3 million views as of Monday afternoon, drew sharp condemnation from hundreds of tech professionals and venture capitalists. Advertisement Nearly 600 individuals have signed an open letter addressed to leaders at Sequoia, calling the post a 'deliberate, inflammatory attack.' The open letter circulating in the tech and venture capital community is urging Sequoia to take action. The signatories are demanding that the firm publicly condemn Maguire's remarks, issue an apology to Mamdani and Muslim founders and authorize an independent investigation into Maguire's conduct over the past two years. 4 Maguire sparked outrage over the weekend after posting on X that Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, 'comes from a culture that lies about everything' and is pursuing 'his Islamist agenda.' AP Advertisement They are also calling for Sequoia to publish a 'zero-tolerance policy on hate speech and religious bigotry.' According to the letter, the group expects a response by July 14. If Sequoia fails to respond by that deadline, the signers say they will 'proceed with broader public disclosure, media outreach and mobilizing our networks to ensure accountability.' Among the signatories are several prominent figures in the tech sector, including Mudassir Sheikha, CEO of ride-hailing platform Careem; Amr Awadallah, CEO of AI startup Vectara; Abubakar Abid, a machine learning engineer at Hugging Face, a company backed by Sequoia; and Ahmed Sabbah, CEO of the fintech company Telda, which received investment from Sequoia in 2020. At least three founders from Y Combinator's accelerator program have also signed the letter. 4 Prominent figures in Silicon Valley signed an open letter denouncing the X post by Maguire. @shaunmmaguire/X The Post has sought comment from Sequoia Capital, Maguire and Mamdani. Maguire, whose portfolio includes investments in Elon Musk's SpaceX and X, as well as the artificial intelligence startup Safe Superintelligence, has frequently voiced his political views. In a post on X last year, he said, 'Just donated $300k to President Trump.' The controversy adds to a broader political divide at Sequoia. Doug Leone, who led the firm until 2022 and remains a partner, is a longtime Republican donor and supported Trump in the 2024 election. Following Trump's victory, Leone posted on X, 'To all Trump voters: you no longer have to hide in the shadows…..you're the majority!!' Advertisement 4 Sequoia Capital is known for being one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms, backing and nurturing tech firms such as Apple, Google, Airbnb and WhatsApp. Leone's predecessor, Mike Moritz, has taken the opposite stance. A Democratic megadonor, Moritz criticized Trump in an August opinion piece for the Financial Times, calling out tech leaders who supported the president. 'I doubt whether any of them would want him as part of an investment syndicate that they organised,' Moritz wrote. 'Why then do they dismiss his recent criminal conviction as nothing more than a politically inspired witch-hunt over a simple book-keeping error?' Advertisement The Post has sought comment from Leone and Moritz. Roelof Botha, who currently leads Sequoia, has sought to remain politically neutral. Speaking at an event last July, Botha said the firm 'doesn't take a political point of view,' and added, 'I'm not a registered member of either party.' He also said he was 'proud of the fact that we've enabled many of our partners to express their respected individual views along the way, and given them that freedom.' Mamdani is a self-described democratic socialist. He drew significant attention from the tech and business communities after defeating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June Democratic primary.
Fox News
25 minutes ago
- Fox News
Ex-Biden official scolds Trump on climate change after Texas floods
Monica Medina, a former Biden State Department official, scolded President Donald Trump on climate change in the aftermath of the devastating Texas floods. "First of all, I just want to say how heartbreaking this is for any parent to imagine this kind of a horrible thing happening to their child. And I hope that this will mean that the president will stop mocking climate change as an existential threat," Medina said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday. Medina, wife of Biden's former chief of staff Ron Klain, served as the State Department's first Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources. "Because for those hundred souls, it was an existential threat, and it is an existential threat for Americans all across the country. It's touching everyone," Medina continued. "What I take away from this is that it was preventable. There are things that we can do. I know sometimes we feel powerless in the face of climate change, but we know that weather is getting more and more extreme," she said. Medina said that the particular part of Texas that was flooded was called "flash flood alley." "We had the ability to make small changes to be able to prevent something like this," Medina said. "NOAA weather radio. It's something that's available, and you can buy it in stores, and it will warn you in the middle of the night, you don't have to have a siren system if you don't have one in place, and it may take a while before Texas decides to put one in place." Prior to her State Department job, Medina was a Georgetown University professor and co-founder of Our Daily Planet, "an e-newsletter on conservation and the environment," the Biden White House said at the time. Medina backed the Green New Deal in 2019, writing in a Huffington Post column, "The Green New Deal is a unifying political message that gets back to the basics of creating an economy that works for all people and protects the planet as a result." Medina said weather services were stretched to the breaking point during her appearance on "Morning Joe." Over 100 people, including children and counselors at a girls' camp, were killed in central Texas in flash flooding that began early on the morning of the Fourth of July.
