Reporters Congratulate Themselves on Being Shamed into Doing Their Jobs

‘Hell has no fury like a press corps deceived,” Axios reporters Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen wrote late last week. “Reporters feel duped — and some probably embarrassed — and are scrambling to unearth new evidence of [Joe Biden’s] decline.” VandeHei and Allen were attempting to explain the sudden outbreak of vigorous journalism around the president’s self-evident cognitive decline, but there was a self-congratulatory subtext to their words: Scorn the press corps, they seemed to be saying, and this is what you get. It’s an odd posture to strike. There’s nothing intimidating about an industry that has to be shamed into action.

But action is what we’re getting, albeit belatedly. The Associated Press reported late Tuesday night — and NBC News subsequently confirmed — the revelation that Biden sat down for a January 17 neurological exam, which contradicts White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s claim that White House visits by two well-known neurological experts had nothing to do with the president’s health.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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‘Hell has no fury like a press corps deceived,” Axios reporters Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen wrote late last week. “Reporters feel duped — and some probably embarrassed — and are scrambling to unearth new evidence of [Joe Biden’s] decline.” VandeHei and Allen were attempting to explain the sudden outbreak of vigorous journalism around the president’s self-evident cognitive decline, but there was a self-congratulatory subtext to their words: Scorn the press corps, they seemed to be saying, and this is what you get. It’s an odd posture to strike. There’s nothing intimidating about an industry that has to be shamed into action.

But action is what we’re getting, albeit belatedly. The Associated Press reported late Tuesday night — and NBC News subsequently confirmed — the revelation that Biden sat down for a January 17 neurological exam, which contradicts White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s claim that White House visits by two well-known neurological experts had nothing to do with the president’s health.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.