'You're not answering!' Heated debate breaks out on CNN over reporting on Biden's decline
A heated discussion broke out Friday night over a pair of reports in The New York Times that President Joe Biden's inner circle shielded him for years, and that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) begged him in July not to seek a second term.
The Times put out the reports late Friday.
“If you run and you lose to Trump, and we lose the Senate, and we don’t get back the House, that 50 years of amazing, beautiful work goes out the window,” Schumer told Biden, according to the report. “But worse — you go down in American history as one of the darkest figures.”
"If I were you, I wouldn’t run, and I’m urging you not to run," he said.
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The report became the topic of a passionate discussion on CNN's "NewsNight."
Not only did they not want to tell him the reality but they were shielding the American people. They were deceiving us and they were trying to obscure the reality of what was actually happening. And it was premeditated," declared Pete Seat, former White House spokesman for President George W. Bush.
Anchor Abby Phillip read from the Times report, which said Biden's family and closest inner circle "recognized his physical frailty to a greater degree than they have publicly acknowledged." That circle, the report said, then "cooperated" to "manage his decline."
Democratic strategist Keith Boykin, a former Clinton White House aide, immediately pivoted to declare the public knows more about Biden's health than President-elect Donald Trump's assassination attempt, his bout with COVID-19 and his medical records from when he was president.
Boykin's assertion was met with shouts from the panel, forcing Phillip to regain control of the panel. When asked whether Boykin would've rather heard from Biden that the president planned to take a step back, Boykin noted he was opposed to Biden running in 2020. But after seeing Biden in office for four years, Boykin found him to be a "very consequential and effective president."
But as Boykin tried to tout Biden's accomplishments, culture writer Touré cut in.
"Keith. Keith. We're on the same side. You're not answering the question. And this is a huge mistake that the Biden team made. The people around him knew that he was not well and they did not say anything. They have endangered the country — not just the party — but the country by not making clear, 'I'm sorry but Grandpa is too old to drive.'"
People in Biden's orbit, said Touré, kept Americans from knowing the truth about Biden's decline.
But Boykin pushed back, insisting Americans could see Biden for his current state, warts and all.
"He's an 82-year-old man. Do you expect him to move like he's a 50-year-old or 60-year-old?" asked Boykin.
Phillip noted that to Democrats, the election carried "existential" stakes.
Later in the discussion, Boykin again questioned why people were surprised to see Biden's decline when they could watch his speeches. The panel again broke out into shouts, with Seat firing back, "Then why was he at the Resolute Desk?" and former Congressional candidate Gail Huff Brown demanding to know, "Who was running the country?"
When Phillip tried to push back that the White House led people to believe Biden was "at the top of his game," Boykin doubled down.
"White Houses always say that stuff. Nobody believes that," he insisted.
Watch the clip below or at this link.