AOC says media applied a ‘damning’ double standard to Trump and Biden mental fitness

WASHINGTON, DC: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, criticized major media outlets this week, accusing them of applying what she described as a “damning” double standard in their coverage of presidential mental fitness.

 Ocasio-Cortez argued that the press intensely scrutinized former President Joe Biden's cognitive health while failing to subject President Donald Trump to the same level of examination, despite what she described as increasingly erratic public behavior. Her comments followed Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which drew widespread attention for a series of public misstatements.

AOC says president acting in increasingly 'erratic ways’

Speaking to reporters, Ocasio-Cortez said the contrast in media treatment between Biden and Trump was striking.

“I think that the president has been acting in increasingly erratic ways,” she said, referring to Trump’s remarks at Davos earlier this week.

She noted that extensive media coverage of Biden’s mental acuity played a significant role in reshaping the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential race, ultimately leading Biden to step aside as the party’s nominee.

“I think it is really damning when we think about the degree to which mass media outlets reported on Joe Biden, and that resulted in the Democratic Party changing its nominee,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

She argued that similar scrutiny has not followed Trump, even as his conduct has drawn concern from commentators and lawmakers.

“We are seeing behavior from Donald Trump that is increasingly erratic and alarming, and everyone’s pretending that this is normal,” she said, adding, “I don’t really understand why that is. It is very bizarre.”

Trump’s Davos speech raises media scrutiny questions

Ocasio-Cortez specifically referenced Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum, where he made several public misstatements, including confusing Greenland with Iceland while discussing geopolitical and economic issues.

She said such moments have been normalized in media coverage, rather than treated as serious indicators deserving sustained attention.

According to Ocasio-Cortez, this normalization sends troubling signals not only domestically but also to US allies abroad.

“For our European partners and for our global partners, what they see is not just one man, but an entire government apparatus and a party willing to watch someone decompensate in front of the world and do nothing about it,” she said.

She added that coverage of Trump’s behavior represents only a “fraction” of the attention devoted to Biden’s cognitive fitness in prior years.

Biden’s cognitive scrutiny reshaped 2024 race

During Biden’s presidency, questions about his mental acuity became a persistent focus of media coverage and political debate. That scrutiny intensified during the 2024 election cycle, eventually leading Biden to withdraw as the Democratic Party’s nominee and hand the reins to Vice President Kamala Harris.

The issue became a defining political flashpoint, seized upon by opponents and amplified across news outlets.

Now, with Trump back in office for a second term, Ocasio-Cortez said the press appears reluctant to revisit similar questions, despite renewed public debate over the president’s conduct and statements.