The release of a new book by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, detailing President Joe Biden‘s mental and physical decline during his term in office, has landed like a bomb inside an already disoriented Democratic Party — sending shockwaves through its ranks.
Obtained by Newsweek ahead of its publication on May 20, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again paints a stark portrait of a presidency in turmoil—and of a leader whose public image of control and clarity masked private struggles with memory, stamina and recognition.
The authors recount scenes in which Biden, then 81, failed to identify longtime friends some of the most recognizable faces in the world, like George Clooney, while requiring increasingly restrictive scheduling to manage his energy. Aides, they write, even discussed the optics of wheeling the president on stage during a potential second term.
Perhaps more striking than the anecdotes themselves is the charge that a tight circle of advisers, family members, and party loyalists suppressed the worst of it—from donors, voters, and even members of the Cabinet—through the 2024 election cycle.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
That election ended in defeat. Biden suspended his campaign in July of that year, handing the nomination to Kamala Harris. But by then, the damage was done. Donald Trump, twice defeated in the popular vote by the Democrats in 2016 and 2020, emerged victorious in November and returned to the White House.
Nine months later, the Democratic Party is adrift, with early excerpts from the new book forcing public figures to confront their own complicity or candor in real time. Biden himself made a show of damage control with an interview on The View last week. Some party strategists and rising stars have begun to express regret. Others cling tightly to their loyalty. And still others, eyes already on 2028, are quietly offering up preemptive justifications before the blame begins to settle.”
And with that reckoning, one question—once whispered, now shouted—has emerged as a litmus test for the next generation of Democratic leadership. What did you know about Joe Biden’s decline, and when did you know it?
Newsweek compares what top Democratic officials, fundraisers, and journalists are saying now with what they said before Biden’s defeat.
Josh Shapiro
Shapiro, the popular Pennsylvania governor, transitioned from publicly dismissing any concerns about Biden’s cognitive abilities during the 2024 election cycle to later asserting he had privately voiced concerns to Biden about his shortcomings during the same period.
Photo by JULIA NIKHINSON / AFP) (Photo by JULIA NIKHINSON/AFP via Getty Images
Post-election:
In an interview with Politico published on May 14, Shapiro said: “I can tell you that I was very frank with the president during his campaign about what I saw were some of the shortcomings. I was very honest with him in a private setting about that.”
What he said in 2024:
Speaking with Politico last August, when asked directly if he had concerns about Biden’s cognitive decline, Shapiro responded confidently:
“Not at all, and I’ve been in regular contact with the president.”
Pete Buttigieg
The former transportation secretary transitioned from staunchly defending President Biden’s mental acuity during the 2024 campaign to acknowledging, post-election, that Biden’s decision to run for a second term may have been a misstep for the Democratic Party.
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Post-election:
During a town hall event in Iowa on May 13, Buttigieg reflected on Biden’s 2024 campaign, stating, “Maybe, you know, right now, with the benefit of hindsight, I think most people would agree that is the case,” when asked if Democrats would have been better off without Biden as the nominee.
He added, “We’re also not in a position to wallow in hindsight. We’ve got to get ready for some fundamental tests of the future of this country and this party.”
What he said in 2024:
In a July 2 interview with Spectrum News, post-debate, Buttigieg defended President Biden’s capabilities, describing him as a “focused and disciplined leader.” He emphasized Biden’s effectiveness, stating, “Every time I needed something from him from the West Wing I got it.”
Rep. Ro Khanna
Khanna, a progressive California lawmaker, went from strongly defending Biden’s cognitive fitness in mid-2024, emphasizing personal interactions to back his claims, to openly stating later that it was a mistake for Biden to run again, calling it “painfully obvious” Biden should not have sought re-election.
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Post-election:
In a statement shared with the Washington Post on May 14, Khanna said: “In my few interactions at public events, I found [Biden] coherent and proud of his record, but it is now painfully obvious he should not have run. We should have had an open primary. We must acknowledge this truth to regain trust with the American people.”
What he said in 2024:
Speaking with CNN in mid-2024, responding to speculation about Biden’s cognitive health, Khanna said: “I’ve seen the president twice in the past two weeks… He’s completely mentally sharp.”
Sen. Chris Murphy
The junior senator from Connecticut transitioned from defending Biden’s mental sharpness in early 2024 to explicitly acknowledging Biden experienced cognitive decline after the election, highlighting it as a key factor in Democrats’ defeat.
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Post-election:
In an interview with Politico published on May 14, Murphy said: “There’s no doubt that former President Biden suffered cognitive decline in office. The debate is whether it compromised his ability to act as chief executive… clearly, in retrospect, we should have done something different.”
What he said in 2024:
On CBS‘s Face the Nation on February 11, 2024, Murphy confidently remarked: “Joe Biden is the only person who’s beaten Donald Trump… I know that he is ready for this campaign.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Warren also transitioned from a steadfast defender of President Biden’s mental acuity during the 2024 campaign to a more nuanced stance post-election, acknowledging the complexities surrounding his cognitive fitness.
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Post-election:
In an interview on the Talk Easy podcast with Sam Fragoso, released on April 20, Warren was asked if she regretted asserting Biden’s sharpness. She responded, “I said what I believed to be true.”
When pressed on whether she observed any decline from 2021 to 2024, she stated, “Not when I said that.” She elaborated, “He was sharp. He was on his feet. I saw him at live events. I had meetings with him a couple of times.”
Fragoso then challenged that “on his feet” was faint praise and Warren conceded, “Fair enough. Fair enough. Look, the question is what are we going to do now?”
What she said in 2024:
In multiple appearances throughout early and mid-2024, Warren publicly defended President Biden’s mental fitness. For instance, during a July 2024 interview, she stated, “The man is sharp. The man knows what he’s talking about. He does the job.” She consistently emphasized her confidence in his capabilities, dismissing concerns about his age and cognitive health
George Clooney
Clooney transitioned from strongly defending Biden’s cognitive fitness in October 2023, to publicly expressing deep concerns about Biden’s mental acuity and urging him not to run in a high-profile July 2024 op-ed, and finally acknowledging after the election a specific troubling encounter with Biden—an event that occurred before he published his piece that helped lead to Biden’s exit from the race.
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Post-election:
In a statement provided to the Washington Post on May 14, Clooney confirmed:
“The anecdote described in the book about the former president not recognizing me is unfortunately accurate… In hindsight, I have to acknowledge the episode troubled me more than I let on at the time.”
What he said in July 2024 (Op-ed, written after the incident above):
In a widely discussed op-ed published in The New York Times on July 10, 2024—written after the debate and incident in which Biden failed to recognize him—Clooney wrote:
“I love Joe Biden—as a senator, as vice president, and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
What he said in 2023:
At a fundraising event for Biden in Los Angeles on October 17, 2023, Clooney asserted:
“I’ve known Joe Biden for 20 years, and trust me, there’s no one sharper or more dedicated to leading this country. Spend a few minutes with him, you know he’s as sharp as ever.”
David Axelrod
Axelrod, a longtime Obama adviser, initially questioned Biden’s wisdom in continuing his campaign in November 2023, issuing a notably cool statement on the president’s decision to run the following year. But after the election loss, he significantly sharpened his criticism, openly confirming Biden’s cognitive decline and labeling Biden’s decision to run again “irresponsible.”
Post-election:
In a conversation with NPR’s Morning Edition on May 14, Axelrod said: “It was an irresponsible decision on [Biden’s] part, and frankly, on his family’s part… They adapted his schedule to his declining condition. The anecdotes [in the book] are troubling.”
What he said in 2023:
Axelrod posted on X (formerly Twitter) on November 5, 2023, following weak Biden poll numbers: “Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee… What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in his best interest or the country’s.”
Jaime Harrison
The former DNC chair consistently defended Biden’s mental acuity throughout 2024, and even after the election loss, criticized Democrats who later expressed regret about Biden’s candidacy as politically opportunistic.
Post-election:
In an interview with the Washington Post in May, Harrison remarked: “Was Joe Biden old? Yes. He acknowledged it. He went through the process. Nobody decided to challenge him then. So don’t get a backbone now after you decided not to get in.”
What he said in 2024:
At a speech during the DNC Summer Meeting on August 10, 2024, Harrison declared: “President Biden remains mentally sharp, fully engaged, and deeply committed to moving this country forward.”
JB Pritzker
The Illinois governor and potential 2028 contender moved from strongly backing Biden during the 2024 campaign—publicly dismissing concerns about his health—to later openly criticizing the timing of Biden’s decision to drop out of the race post-election, emphasizing it damaged the party’s chances.
Post-election:
In an interview published on May 13 with Forbes, Pritzker remarked: “Look, all this stuff about his health or, you know, commentary that people are making in books, frankly that’s very backward-looking. I think the one thing that I would say is that certainly either he needed to be the Democratic nominee as he promised he would be or he needed to drop out before the Democratic primaries, right? You can’t have—and I learned this when I ran for governor—if you’re going to have new people running, right, you’ve got to be able to run in a set of primaries so people can see you operate.”
What he said in 2024:
Following a meeting at the White House on July 3, 2024, Pritzker confidently told reporters: “I’m all in for Joe Biden. I’ve been campaigning for Joe Biden. I think you’ve seen I’ve got dates scheduled to go to Indiana, to Ohio for Joe Biden.”
Jake Tapper
The CNN anchor and co-author of Original Sin is himself part of the story, having shifted from neutral and cautious commentary about Biden’s cognitive abilities last spring to explicitly revealing a troubling “cover-up” of Biden’s cognitive decline with his investigative reporting after the election.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Post-election:
During an appearance on CNN’s The Lead on May 8 promoting the book, Tapper revealed: “What Alex [Thompson] and I uncovered was deeply troubling. There was a concerted effort by Biden’s inner circle to hide the extent of his cognitive and physical decline from voters. Many senior Democrats we spoke with privately acknowledged that the decision to run again was both irresponsible and damaging to the country.”
What he said in 2024:
On CNN’s live coverage of the Biden-Trump debate on June 21, 2024, Tapper commented: “Clearly President Biden struggled tonight, and it’s fair to say voters are going to have real questions about what that means about his capability. Whether it was just a bad night or something deeper, that will be the conversation going forward.”