Media undercovered presidential fitness

Recent books and reporting revealed concrete instances (Hur’s assessment, fundraiser confusion, aides’ alarm) showing a president’s cognitive decline that the mainstream press and partisan allies either downplayed or failed to investigate adequately. That gap meant citizens lacked the information needed to judge a leader’s capacity during acute foreign‑policy crises. — If true, systematic undercoverage of leaders’ fitness reshapes electoral accountability, emergency preparedness, and norms around transparency in democracies.