Book: Biden's Team Covered Up His Startling Decline

Had former President Biden continued his 2024 run for the White House and won, as he believes he would've done, he may have been moving around the Oval Office in a wheelchair. According to a new book from CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson, Biden's advisers discussed the possibility of Biden needing to use a wheelchair for a second term. The book, Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, out May 20, claims Biden physically deteriorated in 2023 and 2024 with significant degeneration of his spine, but aides had a determination to conceal the reality of Biden's condition, "at the risk of his own health," per Axios.

The authors note, "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" for fear of scaring voters. The book also claims Biden's physician, Kevin O'Connor, privately advised "a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery" if Biden were to suffer another bad fall. Aides responded by shortening Biden's walking paths, adding handrails to steps up to stages, and guiding him through the movements, according to the book, which is based on interviews with more than 200 people, mostly Democratic insiders.

In response, a Biden rep says a "medical exam made clear that he had a stiffened gait caused, in part, by wear and tear to his spine—but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened." The rep adds, "Evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity." However, the book also claims Biden forgot names, stared blankly at people he knew well, and became incoherent when fatigued, per CNN. One Democratic strategist quoted in the book says Biden's determination to seek re-election amid his health struggles "was an abomination," per the Guardian. "He stole an election from the Democratic party; he stole it from the American people." (More Joe Biden stories.)