Jen Psaki Says It’s ‘Dangerous’ to Describe Media Coverage Through Biden’s Decline as a ‘Cover-Up’: ‘We All Knew His Age’

In a new interview about her time as Joe Biden’s White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki said it’s “dangerous” to describe media coverage leading up to his disastrous debate with Donald Trump as a “cover-up.”

In a discussion with Semafor staffers and Max Tani and Ben Smith about some of the new books coming about Biden’s presidency, Psaki said she has “complicated feelings” about saying that the White House or the media “covered-up” Biden’s readiness for office.

“I obviously have complicated feelings about that. ‘Cover up’ is such a loaded phrase,” she told Smith. She said that she thought “this is a disaster” seeing Biden choke up live on air during the debate, but that she never saw him have those kinds of issues beforehand.

“I never saw the person on that debate stage. I was in the Oval Office every day. I’m not a doctor. Aging happens quickly,” she said.

When asked to clarify whether her colleagues were “were actively covering it up” or “in denial” or whether Biden simply and off-night, Psaki responded, “This is what I mean — “cover up” is a very loaded term. It suggests a crime, like Watergate or misleading the public about a war. I’m not accusing anybody of a crime.”

She added she didn’t think anyone involved was “part of an active effort to hide what was happening,” but added, “Maybe the media missed a lot. In retrospect, there were probably major stories missed. But if you don’t know what’s happening privately…”

Psaki continued, “Joe Biden was in his early 80s during that period of time. We all knew his age,” but denied that GOP reports of him falling asleep in the Oval Office were true, at least up through May 2022 when she resigned her position.

You can listen to the whole discussion in the embedded video above.

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