Atlantic editor doesn't 'understand' the narrative that media covered for Biden's health

The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic says he doesn’t "understand" the "narrative" that the media covered for former President Joe Biden’s health. 

"I don’t understand how this narrative is developed that the media was covering for Biden," The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg said Friday in an interview he did with CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson’s book following the release of their book, "Original Sin." The book looks into the efforts made by top Biden aides and allies to hide the truth about Biden’s mental and physical health, providing a depiction of a president who was routinely confused and disorientated during his term.

"I think what might be going on here is the lack of understanding about how reporting works," Goldberg said. "In order to prove that he's diminished, you have to have people, sources inside telling you this."

BIDEN INSIDER WAS REPORTEDLY 'AMAZED' AT THE MEDIA COVERAGE THEY WERE ABLE TO SPIN

In response, Tapper pointed to the sources he and Thompson spoke to. 

"What Alex and I have been able to do, which is after the election, all those Democrats, we talked to more than 200 sources for this book, almost all of them Democrats, almost all of them after the election, who were telling us what was really going on behind the scenes," Tapper said. "And the anecdotes and the concerns that we bring forward in this book is investigative journalism, and that is different from observational punditry."

Thompson also mentioned the bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal about how some lawmakers began questioning Biden's health, which was met with fierce criticism by Democrats and some in the media. 

"I mean, look at the reaction to The Wall Street Journal story in June of 2024, just weeks before the debate," Thompson said. "There are a lot of reporters that sort of threw shade at that story. There was not as much solidarity." 

Thompson, as well as Goldberg, pointed to The Atlantic's June 2022 story titled, "Why Biden Shouldn’t Run in 2024," which said, "Biden is by no means the more eloquent character he was in his younger days. It can be painful to watch him give prepared speeches. His tone can be tentative, and certain sentences can become hopscotching journeys. His aides in the room look visibly nervous at times."

Goldberg said he is not trying to make "excuses" for the media, however said journalists can only do so much after they write a story. 

DAN GAINOR: JOURNALISM'S ORIGINAL SPIN. 7 WAYS THE TAPPER/THOMPSON BIDEN BOOK ATTEMPTS TO ABSOLVE MEDIA

"Well, you can lead people to stories that you write, but you can't make them read them," Goldberg said. "And I think that's part of the issue. I'm not trying to make excuses. You've been very forthright about your critique of softness on the part of the media on the question."

He also asked Tapper about the sentiment from Biden’s staff that he would be physically able to take on emergency situations at 3:00 A.M. 

"We have cabinet secretaries in the book, as you know, who are telling us that by 2024, they do not have faith that Joe Biden could be relied upon for that 3:00 A.M. phone call, and that's chilling, chilling," Tapper said. 

Tapper also said President Donald Trump is not being transparent about his health records. 

"I don't think that the press should cover any president going forward, A, without demanding full and complete transparency about health records, which we're not getting from Trump," Tapper said. "We still don't know why he went to Walter Reed in 2019. And I think that we need to be skeptical of everything that we are told by people in power."