Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir
The former president addresses criticisms of his mental acuity and debate performance in "Promise Me, America."
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Joe Biden with a USA flag behind him
Photograph: The New Yorker (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Joe Biden's upcoming memoir, "Promise Me, America," is set for release on Tuesday.
- The book includes a chapter addressing criticisms of Biden's mental acuity and his 2024 debate performance.
- Biden defends his decision to seek re-election, attributing negative perceptions to "the narrative" and unfair media treatment.
- Special counsel Robert Hur's description of Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" is directly addressed and disputed in the memoir.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
68/100
Craft
85/100
Hype
28/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Joe Biden's new memoir, "Promise Me, America," is scheduled for release on Tuesday. The book contains a full chapter dedicated to addressing criticisms of his mental acuity and his performance in the 2024 debate. Biden also discusses the special counsel Robert Hur's final report, which described him as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
In the memoir, Biden defends his decision to run for re-election, arguing that he was performing the job effectively. He frames negative perceptions of his capabilities and debate performance as a result of "the narrative" and unfair treatment by the press and party elites, rather than his own shortcomings. He also contends that he was the only candidate who had previously defeated Donald Trump and was best positioned to do so again.
Disagreement on Biden's debate performance framing
The New Yorker reports that Biden acknowledges his June 2024 debate with Donald Trump "had gone badly" but suggests it was comparable to subpar performances by other incumbent presidents, such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush. He felt he was not given a chance to redeem himself with a second debate. HuffPost states that Biden insists perceptions of his debate performance were shaped more by media and party elites than by his own onstage incoherence, writing that "the press and the pundits had decided my performance was fatal."
What the coverage left out
None of the reports mention the specific date of the interview with Mark Zwonitzer in February 2017, only that it occurred. The New Yorker mentions that Biden relied on several people for his latest memoir, including Ted Widmer, but does not name any other individuals. The New Yorker also notes that Biden's previous memoir, "Promise Me, Dad," was published nine years ago, but does not state the year of its publication. The digests from Newser and The Washington Post do not provide specific details about the content of the memoir beyond Biden's defence of his re-election bid.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 14 Nov 2026, 01:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
5 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports focused on Biden's defence of his re-election bid and his responses to criticism. The New Yorker highlighted Biden's "denial" regarding his fitness for office and his characterisation of Robert Hur's comments as "extraneous commentary" and a "gratuitous hit." This report also noted Biden's comparison of his debate performance to those of other presidents and his assertion that he was the best person to lead the world. HuffPost emphasised Biden's "unrepentant" defence of his decision to run, his insistence that he "was doing the job" despite his age, and his view that perceptions of his debate performance were driven by media narratives. This outlet also detailed Biden's reflections on foreign policy issues like Ukraine and Gaza, and his comments on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response to the October 7th attacks. Newser's digest stated Biden defends his decisions to run in 2024 and seems angry with Democrats who "forced Him Out," according to the Washington Post. The Washington Post's digest noted Biden revisits the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and defends his decision to seek a second term.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from Political Wire focused on Biden's direct responses to critics within his memoir. The digest stated that Biden "devotes a full chapter of his new memoir to rebutting questions about his mental acuity, his decision to seek reelection, and how he thinks he was treated unfairly in the response to his infamous tanking of his debate with [Donald Trump]."
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 83% are rated left, 17% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir biased?
- Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Biden defends 2024 re-election bid in new memoir?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is the title of Joe Biden's new memoir?
- Joe Biden's new memoir is titled "Promise Me, America." It is scheduled for release on Tuesday and includes a chapter addressing criticisms of his mental acuity and his 2024 debate performance.
- How does Joe Biden address criticisms of his mental acuity in the memoir?
- In "Promise Me, America," Joe Biden dedicates a full chapter to rebutting questions about his mental acuity. He directly addresses special counsel Robert Hur's description of him as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," calling it "extraneous commentary" and a "gratuitous hit."
- What does the memoir say about Biden's 2024 debate performance?
- Biden acknowledges in his memoir that his June 2024 debate performance "had gone badly." However, he argues that perceptions of his performance were largely shaped by media narratives and that similar debates had gone poorly for other incumbent presidents, suggesting he was unfairly judged.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
5- Joe Biden’s New Memoir Shows a Man in Denial (opens The New Yorker in a new tab)
The New Yorker — is The New Yorker biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Biden Defenders Decisions to Run in 2024 (opens Newser in a new tab)
- Biden settles scores, defends his 2024 run in new memoir (opens USA Today in a new tab)
- An Unrepentant Biden Defends Reelection Decision In New Book (opens HuffPost in a new tab)
- Biden defends his 2024 run and reckons with Trump in new memoir (opens The Washington Post in a new tab)
The Washington Post — is The Washington Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
1Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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