White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted a New York Times reporter over a story she co-authored last week, painting President Trump as a man in decline.
The article described Trump, 79, appearing to nod off in the Oval Office and claimed that the 47th president has fewer public events on his busy schedule than he did in his first term.
“I will point out one fake news story over the weekend before I let you all go from the New York Times that took about 1/3 of the president’s daily calendar and his daily schedule and said that he’s doing less than he did in his first term, or he might not be fit for the job,” Leavitt raged during a press briefing Monday.
“That is unequivocally false, and it’s deeply unfortunate that this story was written by the same outlet and the same reporter who wrote this, ‘Biden “is doing 100 percent fine” after tripping while boarding Air Force One.’”
“Oh, same outlet, same reporter who wrote that President Trump is not fit for the job. Are you kidding me?”
The piece about former President Joe Biden “doing 100 percent fine” after he stumbled while boarding Air Force One in 2021 was a general write-up of a spokesperson claiming the then-president was doing okay after tripping. The piece did not opine on Biden’s condition.
Notably, the reporter in question, the New York Times’ Katie Rogers, also co-wrote a July 2024 piece titled “Biden’s Lapses Are Said to Be Increasingly Common and Worrisome.”
In that story, which was published days after Biden’s fumbling debate performance against Trump, Rogers and several other reporters detailed how confidants around the 46th president noticed him being increasingly confused and showing signs of his age.
By that point, much of the mainstream media had begun aggressively covering Biden’s mental acuity. Though in the run-up to the fateful debate, the Biden campaign had privately raged against the New York Times over its coverage of his age and abysmal polling, Politico reported.
Biden, 83, is the oldest man to serve as president, though Trump will take that record if he serves out a full term.
Trump had fumed at Rogers over the story, panning her as “third-rate” and “ugly, both inside and out.”
“You all see him almost every single day. He is the most accessible president in history. He is taking meetings around the clock,” Leavitt further chided.
She pointed to another piece Rogers co-wrote, titled “Biden Declared ‘Healthy’ and ‘Vigorous’ After His First Presidential Physical,” which cited the White House physician’s assessment.
Rogers has written stories with similar headlines about Trump, such as “Trump Says a Recent M.R.I. Scan Was ‘Perfect,’ and He’d ‘Love’ a Third Term.” In his first term, she penned a story titled “Trump ‘Remains Healthy’ After Taking Hydroxychloroquine, His Doctor Says.”
On Monday, the White House released a memo on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Trump underwent in October, following weeks of intense speculation over why the 79-year-old required that test.
“As part of President Donald J. Trump’s comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health,” Presidential physician Dr. Sean Barbabella explained in a memo.
“The purpose of this imaging is preventative: to identify issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function. President Trump’s cardiovascular imaging is perfectly normal.”
