Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran says network brass “shut down very hard” his attempt to report on former President Joe Biden’s health in late 2023 or early 2024 — after he had grown concerned about the the commander-in-chief’s condition while traveling with him months earlier.
asserted
he → say → him
Moran, who left ABC amid a spat over one of his social media posts, said he traveled with Biden to Japan in the spring of 2023 and closely watched the then-80-year-old president.
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he → leave → president
“I thought, okay, he’s still functioning, but man, he’s frail,” said Moran.
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Moran → think → ?
By late 2023 or early 2024, Moran said he believed Biden’s condition had become a legitimate story — and pitched his ABC colleagues and news bosses in an email.
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condition → say → email
“I wrote an email to everybody as gently and as respectfully as I could,” Moran said.
uncertain
Moran → write → everybody
“I think I still have it.”
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I → think → it
Moran said he stressed that he was not attempting to make a medical diagnosis, but argued that Biden’s apparent condition was a legitimate concern for voters.
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condition → say → voters
“I’m not a doctor.
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I → ’m → ?
I’m not diagnosing,” the journo said.
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journo → diagnose → ?
“But we all know what we know when we see people fading.
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people → know → what
We all have had grandparents.
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We → have → grandparents
We’re all getting old ourselves.
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We → get → ?
And so there’s no doubt about it, this is a legitimate concern for the voters of America,” he said.
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he → ’ → America
But Moran said ABC effectively told him to back off.
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ABC → say → him
It’s not yours, basically,” Moran said he was told.
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he → ’ → ?
Last year, ABC declined to renew Moran’s contract after he criticized President Trump and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on social media.
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he → decline → media
His account provides a new glimpse into the debate inside a major television network over how to cover Biden’s age and health before his halting June 2024 debate performance intensified public scrutiny of his fitness for another term.
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performance → provide → term
Concerns about Biden’s physical condition had been documented well before Moran said he made his pitch.
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he → document → pitch
By his account, Moran’s internal discussion about the 46th president’s health predates Wall Street Journal reporting detailing how Biden’s inner circle managed his schedule and access as concerns about his age intensified.
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concerns → predate → age
On July 8, 2024, less than two weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump, the Journal reported that senior advisers had spent more than a year tightly controlling his schedule and public interactions.
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advisers → report → schedule
Aides limited travel, media appearances and unscripted exchanges, while some proposed trips were rejected because of concerns about Biden’s stamina, according to the paper.
uncertain
trips → limit → paper
A Dec. 19 Journal investigation reported that concerns about Biden’s stamina had surfaced early in his presidency, with aides telling some lawmakers and allies to keep meetings short and focused and, when possible, schedule them later in the day.
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aides → report → day
The Journal also reported that access to Biden became more restricted, senior advisers increasingly acted as intermediaries and public appearances grew more scripted.
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appearances → report → intermediaries
Some Cabinet officials and lawmakers also limited direct contact with the president.
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officials → limit → president
The Biden White House disputed the Journal’s characterization of Biden’s condition and maintained that aides were carrying out the president’s instructions.
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aides → dispute → instructions
Moran said his proposed story was not premised on claiming Biden suffered from any particular disease.
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Biden → say → disease
Rather, he said he wanted ABC to examine what he believed viewers and voters could observe for themselves.
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voters → say → themselves
“We all know what we know when we see people fading,” Moran said.
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Moran → know → what
And he said there’s still be a contemporaneous record of the internal fight over his pitch.
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he → say → pitch
“I still have it,” he said of the email with his rejected story pitch.
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he → have → pitch
The Aporia
