As news was breaking of former President Joe Biden’s advanced cancer diagnosis, there immediately emerged efforts to turn the diagnosis into a vehicle with which to suppress scrutiny of the former president based on the respective releases of the Hur tapes and the Tapper/Thompson book Original Sin. Chief among those doing so on CNN, Brian Stelter and former Obama guru David Axelrod.
Watch as Stelter suggests that the “conversation” over the biggest political fraud perpetuated upon the American people be “briefly put on paused” (click “expand” for full transcript):
WATCH: CNN’s @brianstelter, suggesting that President Biden’s cancer diagnosis will pause public scrutiny of the conspiracy to hide Joe Biden’s decline from the American public (it will only intensify it):
“So on the day (the Hur tapes) was breaking, Biden was facing this, this… pic.twitter.com/1eVgLBNVCJ
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 18, 2025
JESSICA DEAN: CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is joining us now. And, Brian, thanks for- for- for jumping on with us. Look, this is breaking news that came just about two hours ago and it is now rippling through. You know, television, media, online. How are people consuming this? How is it reaching people?
BRIAN STELTER: And, you know, I’m seeing some prostate cancer survivors, people who have lived with this disease, who have been through this expressing support, both condolences, but also support and cheering Biden on as he faces this. The timing, Jessica, is- is just extraordinary. We know from the statement from his personal spokesman that Biden learned of the diagnosis on Friday. Well, what was the biggest Biden story on Friday? It was the release of those audio excerpts from his conversations with Robert Hur back in 2023. This was the audio that Axios obtained, almost certainly from the Trump Administration, showing memory lapses. And you heard a lot of people on Friday talking about that audio being hard to hear, even excruciating, to hear Biden showing his age on those audio tapes that had never been heard by the public until now. So on the day that story was breaking, Biden was facing this, this personal news. At least that’s according to the statement from his personal spokesman. So you have that as one element of the timing here. And then you have, as you and Paul (Begala) just acknowledged, this book coming out, one of the biggest political books in several years. Take out our colleague Jake Tapper for a second. This book, no matter who, no matter where it was coming from, was going to be a very big blockbuster book. And it just so happens two of the best reporters in Washington, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, are the authors of it. It’s already a bestseller based on the number of preorders. And so this book comes out in two days. But some of the excerpts have already come out, and it’s reignited this debate in Washington and beyond, within the Democratic Party about Biden, about whether he should have run for reelection at all. So it seems to me, Jessica, this debate doesn’t end at all. But it is briefly put on pause as a result of today’s news.
DEAN: Absolutely. And as people really absorb this, hopefully, just in a human way first. Brian- Brian Stelter, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.
Of course, there is no “pausing” discussion of the thing we saw unfold before our very eyes but were told was totally not happening by elected Democrats and their allies in media. Stelter tied everything into the book release before coughing up this edict. But he wasn’t the first. Obama campaign guru and CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod suggested pretty much the same:
WATCH: David Axelrod calls for “conversations” about Joe Biden’s cognitive and physical decline to be “muted and set aside for now.”
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: His medical condition now, his announced medical condition now- do you believe that silences or delays a lot of conversations… pic.twitter.com/n92YHeZlmJ
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 19, 2025
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: His medical condition now, his announced medical condition now- do you believe that silences or delays a lot of conversations about his, you know, last year and a half of his presidency? For now.
DAVID AXELROD: Yeah. Well, I mean, I think those conversations are going to happen, but they should be more muted and set aside for now, as he’s struggling through this.
Why is there such a rush to stifle talk? Why is there a desire to impose this narrative? In large part, because many reasonable individuals may conclude that the cancer itself (not the metastasis) was among the many things hidden from the public over the past few years.
Furthermore: reasonable individuals may conclude that Biden’s sharp decline in office is in part attributable to cancer treatment. Here is a CNN guest plainly telling Fredricka Wilson that bone problems and “cognitive changes” are side effects of hormone treatment for prostate cancer.
What if Biden’s accelerated physical and cognitive decline was in part a result of hormonal treatment for prostate cancer?
DR. JAMIN BRAHMBATT, ON CNN: “One of the biggest side effects that I see in my patients that get these hormone treatments could be cognitive changes. So you… pic.twitter.com/zvbmXgmJ6P
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 18, 2025
WHITFIELD: And that he’s 82. How would that dictate how he and his medical team make a decision about the treatment options?
JAMIN BRAHMBATT: I think- I think he’s not my patient. But if I had a patient like him with all the medical stuff that he has, including whether it’s the physical or the mental- you know, you really have to take that into account because all these treatments do have potential side effects. One of the biggest side effects that I see in my patients that get these hormone treatments could be cognitive changes. So you have to kind of balance that. People can also get issues with fatigue and weight loss. But when he has stuff in his bones, he’s also at higher risk for fractures. So it is- it is a very sensitive conversation. But initially what we do is we try to get very aggressive in the treatments and then either we pull back if he’s not responding or if he’s getting symptoms. But initially, it’s a very aggressive intervention. It’s like, all right, let’s see what we can do. Yes. There’s side effects. But right now, if it is in his bones, if we want to extend his quality of life or extend his life, then perhaps firing all the missiles in this case may be the better way to go and then kind of retract as we need.
Far from “muting” or “pausing” anything, the American public will take everything into consideration when assessing the conspiracy to hide Joe Biden’s declining health and cognition, including the media’s role therein.
We prayerfully wish President Joe Biden a speedy recovery.
