George Clooney “felt a form of knot in his stomach” while a frail and decreased Joe Biden approved, apparently not recognizing one of the most famous actors in the world. “George Clooney,“” An assistant finally clarified for the American president. “Oh yeah!” Said biden. “Hi, George!”
The excruciating meeting during a sumptuous fundraising of Los Angeles last June is one of the many overwhelming anecdotes contained in Original sin: The decline of President Biden, his concealment and his disastrous choice to run again, an upcoming book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.
Book preview Seized Washington this weekExposing the shocking truth of the last year of the presidency of Biden when his health refused and reopening old wounds in the Democratic Party and the Blank House press. The revelations have also fueled questions on the political role, if necessary, Biden, 82, must play in the future when it strives to buy its inheritance.
“Participation in a re -election was a disastrous decision and it destroyed an honorable and consecutive heritage,” said Larry JacobsDirector of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “Joe Biden is a source of deep disappointment and betrayal with the Democratic Party. The fact that he is always promoting himself and his presidency is an additional confirmation of the disconnection between Joe Biden and reality. ”
On the basis of interviews with more than 200 people, including initiates of the White House, members of the Congress and Donors, Original SIN presents a scathing account of an elderly and selfish Cocooned President of reality for re -election in 2024, despite important concerns concerning his declining health and his cognitive capacities.
Examples included the loss of his thought, the evil in remembering the names, incoherent speeches and difficulties with physical tasks, Tapper and Thompson write. The assistants discussed the possibility of Biden Need a wheelchair If he was re -elected because of the severity of his physical slowdown and his fears of falls. “What the public saw its functioning was worrying. What was going on in private was worse. ”
Biden’s reckless decision to run, activated by his inner circle, is described as an “abomination” and an act of “extended public deception” which finally led to democratic defeat and inevitable spell This Biden feared the most: Donald Trump’s return to power.
The authors also lighten a deliberate effort by the staff close to Biden and the allies to hide the extent of their deterioration, although they do not expect the question of whether many The media were accomplices. An anonymous assistant said: “We tried to protect him from his own staff, so many people did not achieve the extent of the decline starting in 2023.”
In an appearance on CNN, where he is the main DC Anchor and chief chief of Washington, Tap said: “The White House lied not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to the members of their own cabinet. They were lying to members of the White House staff. They were lying to the Democrats of Congress, Donors, on the way things were bad things.”
The performance of the Biden Odedigue debate against Trump on June 27, 2024 was the moment when the great deception was exhibited. The president hung on for more than three weeks before finally retiring and approving the vice-president Kamala Harris. David Plouffe, an advisor to Harris, told the authors that Biden’s late withdrawal “has completely kissed us”.
Exceptionally for a political book, the original sin has climbed to the number one on the new list of versions of Amazon and handed over the media projectors to Biden. The member of the Ro Khanna Congress has admitted biden should not have run While the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, suggested that he should have abandoned earlier. Some have asked why the Democrats always debate what happened when his successor threatens democracy itself.
But A line of the book is revealing Regarding a perceived betrayal of public confidence and a need to learn lessons for the future: “Democrats have deceived the country on the capacities of Biden and, Clooney said:” This is how Trump won “.”
There is always a disagreement at the time, or even if Biden should have abandoned his candidacy for re -election. The Allies continue to defend him, stressing that no evidence was revealed that his decision -making was altered or that he endangered national security and highlighting his solid performances during last year in Union state address And NATO summit in Washington.
Ron KlainA former Chief of Staff of the White House told the Guardian by SMS: “I don’t think he should have abandoned. We are all in decline. But the president was mentally clear and capable of serving. I think that his press conference after the NATO meeting in July proved it. ”
Others argue that the president who called himself a “bridge” in the next generation should have left much earlier.
Adam GreenThe co -founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said: “Even in 2021 and 2022, Biden was probably not able to present himself to re -election. He couldn’t hurt.
He added: “The point to remember incorrect of this book is that Biden should have been released a few weeks earlier so that Kamala Harris wins. The best shooting is that he should have come out earlier so that the Democrats could have a primary and select a better candidate.”
Norman Salomon, national director of RootsAction.org, a progressive group that launched a “Don’t run Joe“Campaign in November 2022,” said: “The book verifies the concern of everyone who expressed privately. I spoke to the members of the Congress at the beginning of 2023 who said, God, this guy will train us. But the element of fear was there.
“This convincingly documents that the establishment of the Democratic Party plunged when he should have fighted and – it’s very sad to say – almost all the Democrats in the Congress were guilty. It was not the science of rockets or political sciences to know that Biden should not run again. He was hidden at sight.
However, Biden, who would have been convinced that he could have beat Trump, will not disappear anytime soon. He signed with creative artists agency for representation and, aware that the original sin and a list of other damaging books were on the way, he Hired the Strateg of Communications Chris Meagher To defend its reputation.
Last week, he gave high level interviews BBC Radio 4’s TODAY PROGRAM And the ABC speaks the sight. He told the latter that he wrote a book and said, “I try to understand what is the most important and most consecutive role I can play, in accordance with what I have done in the past.”
Frank LuntzA political consultant and communications and survey, said: “”He has perfectly the right to speak as president, as vice-president, as a senator for about 30 years, as a leading force in American politics. He has the right to be heard perfectly.
“If this is what he chooses to do, it is absolutely his right as a American political leader for half a century. He was elected at the age of 29. If he has something to say, he should say it and he should be welcomed and, if it hurts the Democrats, it is their fault. ”
Like his colleague President in the long term Jimmy CarterBiden may have to wait a long time before his reputation recovered. He left his duties with a 36%approval note, according to a CNN survey, and faces the opprobrium continues not only on his decision to present himself again, but also his management of problems such as inflation and war in Gaza. It is unlikely that Democratic candidates are claiming their approval in the mid-term elections next year.
Larry SabatoThe director of the Center for Politics of the University of Virginia, suggested: “He should take a step back, at least for a while, certainly through the mid-term elections, then let the candidate in 2028 determine if he is brought back.
“If the candidate thinks that he can help, he will ask him and if he does not do so. We will not know what is the answer with regard to the fact that Biden obtains an evening niche at the Democratic Convention or a niche early in the morning when we all suffer from the hangover.”
Solomon de RootsAction.org added: “The best thing he can do is to get off the scene. As horrible as his impacts were on the facilitation of Trump’s return, he is still without restriction and he aggravates the crime.
“I don’t think it’s a completely unfair comparison with King Lear. The storm arrives and he is in the winter of his life and he tries to justify himself but it is too late. It is impossible. It is a risk factor for walking for any democrat who wants to win the election next year. ”