The New York Times drew sharp criticism Friday after their print edition hit the stands with no mention at all of Joe Biden’s disastrous presidential debate performance against Donald Trump.
On Friday, readers of the self-described ‘newspaper of record’ instead woke up to headlines concerning Iran intensifying nuclear work and an analysis on Julian Assange.
Unlike other major print dailies – including the similarly left-leaning Washington Post, and the more conservative Wall Street Journal and tabloid New York Post – the true-blue Times failed to report on the debate between President Biden and Donald Trump.
In fact, the newspaper was devoid of any mention of the debate besides a small box on the bottom right of the print edition which just briefly teased its coverage online.
The outlet directed physical readers of the paper to their website to catch up on the ‘high-stakes rematch’.
The newspaper was void of any mention of the debate besides a small box on the bottom right of the edition which just briefly mentioned it was taking place
The president and his predecessor faced off in the first of two debates in Atlanta on Thursday night
Fox News Contributor Joe Concha hit out at the outlet, telling DailyMail.com that he believes had Biden performed well, it would have been splashed all over its cover.
‘I find it absolutely and utterly incredulous that the New York Times would omit debate coverage on its front page for an event that will go down as the most watched political event of the year besides election night,’ Concha said.
‘I can’t speak to the motives of its decision makers [at the Times], but I’m willing to guess that if Joe Biden had anything resembling a good night, that would’ve been splashed all over the front pages.
‘And once again, this underscores that this publication has not endorsed a Republican presidential candidate since 1956.
‘And whoever the Democratic nominee is, it is 100% certain they will endorse that candidate as well, even Joe Biden.’
Meanwhile, Tim Graham, executive editor of Newsbusters, wondered if the play would have been as bereft had the debate fortunes run the pother way.
‘I don’t know enough about the publishing process but I guess the question is, Was it a political decision or a logistical one?’ Graham said.
‘It’s very embarrassing anyway and it begs the question, Would there have been more urgency if Trump had a similar bad night?’
Despite the Times – which promises on every front page, ‘All the news that fits’ – lacking any information on Biden’s freeze-ups, feeble demeanor and disastrous reviews from even stalwart Democrats who called for his head after the 90-minute debate, their website carried headlines including, ‘JOE MUST BOW OUT OF THE RACE’, ‘BIDEN CANNOT GO ON LIKE THIS’ and ‘PRESIDENT BIDEN, IT’S TIME TO DROP OUT’.
It remains unclear as to why the newspaper edition of the outlet did not publish a later edition to include the debate — they reportedly go to print around 9 pm, which was when the debate started.
But in years past the newspaper following big debate nights included extensive front page coverage and analysis.
On social media platform X, the outlet was trashed Friday by some critics for seemingly white-washing the debate from its print edition.
One person posted: ‘I just looked at the front page of the New York Times. WTH happened last night?
‘And I’m not talking about Caitlin Clark taking 2 shots in the second half,’ the posting snarked.
While another shared a screengrab of the page, adding: ‘What’s missing from today’s front page of The New York Times?’
Author Dr. Jordan Peterson also waded in, posting: ‘Did I just hallucinate the disastrous presidential debate?’ and shared a picture of the Times front page.
The president and his predecessor faced off in the first of two debates in Atlanta on Thursday night on topics ranging from the economy to immigration and foreign affairs.
Previous iterations of the newspaper following debate night included front page coverage and analysis
Trump, on the other hand, had his usual energy as he attacked Biden on the stage and made at least 30 untrue statements during the 90-minute debate
Biden, whose aides said he was suffering from a cold to try and explain his performance away, spoke hoarsely and appeared confused and sometimes incoherent at the start of the debate, which continued to go down hill.
At times, the president looked blankly into the camera or down at his notes while Trump was speaking.
Trump, on the other hand, had his usual energy as he attacked Biden on the stage and made at least 30 untrue statements during the 90-minute debate.
The disastrous Biden performance made its way to the online opinion pages of the Times where not a single one of a panel of 12 writers concluded that Biden won the head-to-head.
To top it off, a number of the columnists said that Biden should drop out of the race right away.
In a piece titled ‘God Help Us’, NYT columnist Josh Barro added that Biden was ‘especially disastrous’ and was ‘mumbling, at time incoherent and seeming really, really old’.
While Thomas Friedman, a political commentator and friend of the president, added: ‘I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a Lisbon hotel room, and it made me weep.
‘I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime — precisely because of what it revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election.’
J.L. Partners polled 805 independent voters immediately after the 90-minute clash
Friedman added that Trump was a ‘fire hose of lies’ who is ‘nowhere close to what it will take for America to lead in the 21st century’.
In a piece by Paul Krugman titled ‘The Best President of My Adult Life Needs to Withdraw’, he said he joined the ‘chorus asking Biden to voluntarily step aside’.
The car crash showdown with Donald Trump has sparked a crisis within the Democratic Party.
During a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, the president used his time try and assuage those fears on Friday afternoon.
‘I know I’m not a young man. To state the obvious,’ Biden said. ‘Folks, I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to.’
‘But I know what I know — I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,’ the president argued.
He also assured the crowd ‘I give you my word as a Biden.’
‘I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job,’ Biden said.
First Lady Jill Biden, who helped her husband off the stage after his CNN calamity, wore a dress covered in the word ‘vote’ and defended his debate performance the day after
Behind the scenes there are calls to replace him on the 2024 ticket with just 130 days until the nominating convention in Chicago.
‘Deflated’ White House staffers have reportedly been filling group chats with messages saying their boss’s performance was ‘ugly’ and ‘abysmal’.
Congressional leaders even admitted Biden’s debate performance where he meandered and struggled to finish sentences was bad.
But publicly they are standing behind their man, who is refusing to drop out and has even committed to a second debate with Trump in September.
A devastating DailyMail.com snap poll of the debate found that a clear majority of independent voters believe Biden should no longer be the nominee. Some 62 percent said he should be dumped from the ticket.
J.L. Partners polled 805 independent voters immediately after the 90-minute clash, and found that 68 percent said the former president won out over his White House successor.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the New York Times for comment but there was no immediate response.
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