Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Jake Tapper Says White House, Dems Were ‘Lying’ All Along About Biden’s Health Until Election Ended

[Screenshot/CNN]

CNN’s Jake Tapper said Tuesday that the White House and Democrats blatantly lied to the American people about former President Joe Biden’s health until the 2024 election had ended.

Biden’s health deteriorated so badly in the second half of his term that his aides discussed putting him in a wheelchair, according to Axios, which cited an excerpt from Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin.” Tapper said that based on his discussions with multiple Democrat insiders, it is evident that the White House and members of Biden’s party lied to cover up his deteriorating physical state.

“[The] bottom line is, the White House was lying, not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to their own cabinet, they were lying to White House staffers, they were lying to Democratic members of Congress, to donors about how bad things have gotten,” Tapper said. “In fact, Alex and I started writing this book after the election of 2024 and we spoke with more than 200 people, most of whom, most of all of whom were Democrats, and almost all of whom wouldn’t be honest with us or wouldn’t be candid with us until after the election and then after the election, and then after the election we found out all of these things that when you looked at what was going on with President Biden at the time, it probably doesn’t surprise you to the extent that he was deteriorating.”

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Tapper and Thompson reported that Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, privately warned Biden’s team that a “wheelchair might be necessary” if he suffers from one more fall in 2023 or 2024, according to Axios. His aides believed it would be a bad political move to put the then-president in a wheelchair ahead of the 2024 election.

O’Connor had reportedly expressed his concern about the toll the presidency was taking on the 81-year-old president’s health, according to Axios. He often pushed Biden’s staff to allow him to get more rest time into his schedule.

Biden noticeably had a halting walk and suffered from a severe degeneration of his spine, which made him evidently weaker, according to Axios. He also spoke with a raspy voice and appeared confused during his June 27 presidential debate against the then-presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, prompting Democrats to publicly call on him to drop out.

The White House asserted that Biden simply had a “bad night” on the debate stage and that they had been completely “transparent” about his health. Two aides rushed to publicly tell NBC News the president suffered from a cold halfway through the debate.

After Biden tripped over a sandbag in June 2023, his aides became increasingly more cautious to avoid another fall before the 2024 election by figuring out shorter walking paths, insisting on using handrails on stairs, and having him wear sneakers, Axios reported. Before the election, his aides said that Biden’s halting walk was a result of him fracturing his foot in November 2020, though O’Connor said at the time that the small fractures in Biden’s foot had been completely healed.

Tapper previously defended Biden against his critics’ concerns about his health. He argued with Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, as she pointed to Biden’s visible downfall on June 27, and he further pushed back against former Democrat 2024 presidential candidate Dean Phillips as he raised the same concerns.

During the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, Thompson blamed the Biden administration for covering up the former president’s mental decline and criticized the media for remaining silent on the matter.