In the middle of an Aug. 23 post complaining that CNN’s Don Lemon had a “deranged reaction to President Trump’s Arizona rally,” the Media Research Center’s Curtis Houck took a little time to complain that “Lemon falsely claimed that Ronald Reagan already had Alzheimer’s Disease while President,” later restating that “Lemon promoted fake news about Reagan.”
How does Houck know that this is “false” and “fake news”? The only evidence he cites is from conservative columnist George Will and a review of a book by conservative Craig Shirley on Reagan done by “conservative scholar Lee Edwards.”
Meanwhile, Reagan’s son, Ron Reagan Jr. — who likely had a closer, more realistic view of the situation than a couple of Reagan hagiographers — argued that his father may have shown some early signs of Alzheimer’s during his presidency, such as the occasional bout of forgetfulness.
So it appears that, at best, the jury is out on the issue. Perhaps Houck shouldn’t be making such a definitive claim without examining evidence from people not predisposed to default to polishing Reagan’s legacy.