That President Joe Biden is prone to bouts of forgetfulness is not new news. What isnew news, however, is a recent alarming incident that forced the media’s hand on covering a sensitive topic that was once considered virtually taboo in media circles ― at least as far as Democrat politicians were concerned. 
During a White House conference last Wednesday on hunger, nutrition, and health, Biden gave a speech. During the course of speaking, it appeared his notes reminded him to make sure to honor former Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who was the co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus.
The problem, however, came when Biden asked “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” and searched all over the room for the Congresswoman. Unfortunately, Walorski was not in attendance at the event because she along with two Congressional aides tragically passed away on August 3rd after a car accident in Indiana.
On the same day she passed away, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden issued a statement that noted they were “shocked and saddened” by her death, talked up her accomplishments, and sent their “deepest condolences” to the family members of all involved.
Clearly, Biden was aware, at least initially, that Walorski was no longer with us. So how could he forget not quite two months after her death that she had died?
That’s a question many in the White House press corps had in so many words for press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who a few hours later was hit with a barrage of questions from several reporters in the briefing room, including some who worked for news outlets typically considered to be Democrat-friendly.
Instead of answering the questions in a straightforward manner, Jean-Pierre dodged them and instead claimed that Walorski was simply “on top of mind” for the President considering the events of the week. She said Biden was looking forward to meeting Walorski’s family during a bill signing in her honor a couple of days later.
The press conference went so badly with reporters repeatedly pressing Jean-Pierre on the subject that, conveniently, there was no daily briefing the next day.
That so many in the media including the New York Times and CNN not only grilled the Biden White House on him forgetting Walorski’s passing but also published full reports on what happened and how their questions weren’t answered represents a major sea-change on this issue, in my opinion, which comes at a very inconvenient time for Democrats considering the midterm elections are just a few weeks away.
The self-imposed media moratorium on questioning Biden’s mental health and state of mind appears to be officially over at this stage of his presidency because the incident with him calling out and looking around for Walorski was just too concerning, too eye-opening even for those in the press who had previously operated from the “we’re just not gonna go there” perspective on questions that have been raised for over three years now (including during his time on the campaign trail) about Biden.
In short, the elephant in the room roared to life last week in a major way, causing people on both sides of the aisle and members of the mainstream media to do some double takes. Because if Biden really does have cognitive issues from time to time, that’s an especially big problem considering he is the President of the United States of America.
If he’s not at 100% and can’t run the country during these bouts, just who exactly is running it?
It’s no laughing matter; it’s a very serious one. Serious enough that not even the Democrat apologists in the White House press corps can ignore it anymore.
North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.
