White House press corps defends itself over coverage of Biden’s age: ‘It’s complicated’

Members of the White House press corps largely defended their reporting after receiving criticism for their handling of concerns over President Biden's age before the debate.

"To some extent, the decline has appeared to be gradual — hard to notice from day to day — and that’s perhaps made it harder for reporters to determine when is the right moment to write something," a reporter, speaking anonymously, told CNN.

These reporters, among some of the most famous and well-connected journalists in the country, said that the White House has concerned itself with preventing stories about Biden's age.

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"[B]erating reporters who bring them reporting about age concerns, bemoaning that it’s all anyone writes about (clearly, it’s not) and often attacking pieces after they run," a reporter told CNN. "I think that’s left some folks to conclude that these stories are too painful to report or that they should pick their spots more. It’s clear the age stories that have angered the White House (and the liberal Twittersphere) the most."

"They keep him at arm’s length, and he rarely does extended interviews," a reporter told the outlet.

But some reporters said that the White House press corps should have done more to report on Biden's accommodations.

"I think the press, most of the White House press, did suffer from a bit of lack of curiosity," one of the reporters said.

Other reporters argued that the stakes of the presidential election and the alternative to Biden, former President Trump, makes the question of having fairly covered Biden's age a "complicated" one.

"It makes sense to reflect on this now and ask whether we missed or, really,