A right-wing outlet put out a story alleging President Joe Biden asked for special accommodations over his diminished capabilities in a CNN-sponsored presidential debate, set to take place with former President Donald Trump in 10 days.
But CNN quickly debunked the claim, Forbes reported.
"The Washington Reporter, a right-leaning political news outlet founded earlier this year by Republican political consultants, tweeted Monday that two anonymous sources, including one from the network, said the Biden campaign tried to 'renegotiate the debate rules to allow Biden to be seated,'" reported Sara Dorn. "The post was reshared by prominent Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. and Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who tweeted 'he can’t stand for 90 minutes - but he’s 100% able to be President?'"
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But this appears not to be true. The report continued: CNN "rejected the claim, telling Forbes 'it’s not accurate' and that both Biden and Trump agreed to CNN’s proposed format when they accepted the network’s invitation to debate."
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This comes amid a concerted effort by right-wing media outlets to deceptively play up perceived problems with Biden's physical or mental capabilities, as polls routinely show voters are concerned about the president's age.
For example, the New York Post, a right-wing newspaper under the umbrella of the Murdochs' media empire, posted a fragmentary video that appeared to show Biden unfocused and wandering off during the G7 summit, but it soon became apparent that in the full video, he was interacting with paratroopers off screen. Facing criticism over their lie, the Post continued to double-down on their reporting.
Additionally, reporting by Popular Information's Judd Legum has revealed that Sinclair Broadcast Group, a far-right company that owns local news stations around the country, has pushed a series of other deceptively edited Biden infirmity stories repackaged from the Republican National Committee's "research" team and disguised as local news stories, including baseless speculation that Biden pooped his pants.
