BBC News, Washington DC
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Former US President Joe Biden’s aides have hit back at a new book that accuses his White House inner circle of covering up his “physical deterioration” during his ill-fated re-election campaign.
According to the book, Original Sin, Biden’s condition during his 2024 presidential run was said to be so poor that aides discussed putting him in a wheelchair.
A spokesperson for Biden, 82, said “evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity” and maintained the Democrat had been “a very effective president”.
The book, by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios, is due to be released on 20 May.
Biden abruptly ended his re-election campaign last July shortly after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, a Republican.
Party insiders blamed him for exiting the race too late, leaving his replacement, Vice-President Kamala Harris, 107 days to challenge Trump, who swept to victory.
Ahead of the book’s release, Biden last week gave his first interview since leaving the White House to the BBC, saying: “I don’t think it would have mattered” if he had left the race sooner.
While the book largely cites anonymous sources in interviews with more than 200 people, one of the few to be quoted on the record is David Plouffe, who worked on Vice-President Harris’s campaign.
“We got so screwed by Biden as a party,” the book quotes Plouffe as saying.
The authors write: “Biden’s physical deterioration – most apparent in his halting walk – had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election.
“Given Biden’s age, [his physician Kevin O’Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the book adds.
Biden’s physical condition had declined so much, the authors said, that aides had sought to ensure he walked shorter distances, used handrails when mounting stairs, and wore trainers more often.
At the time, Biden aides repeatedly told reporters his altered gait was due to a foot fracture in November 2020 and his subsequent refusal to consistently wear his prescribed surgical boot.
In a statement to Axios, an anonymous Biden aide said: “Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.”
The spokesperson added: “We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline.
“In fact, the evidence points to the opposite – he was a very effective president.”
Tapper and Thompson’s book also says that Biden did not recognise George Clooney at a star-studded California campaign fundraiser last June hosted by the Hollywood star.
“Thank you for being here,” Biden told Clooney at the event, apparently unaware he was speaking to the Academy Award winner.
“You know George,” an aide reportedly told Biden, as he was struggled to work out Clooney’s identity.
Not long after the incident, Clooney wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times calling on Biden to quit the race. The actor was one of the first major donors to publicly withdraw his support.
The book also alleges that Biden forgot the names of veteran aides, including trusted loyalist Mike Donilon, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.
