Jake Tapper Pinpoints 'Big Tell' in Joe Biden 'Cover Up'

Newsweek

20-05-2025

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Jake Tapper, who has co-authored a new book about Joe Biden, has broken down what he thinks is a "big tell" that Biden's decline was being covered up.
The CNN reporter, along with Axios journalist Alex Thompson, has written a book called Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.
Speaking to the BBC's Americast podcast, Tapper gave some examples of where Biden's decline was clear and how it was hidden from the public.
Why It Matters
Biden's time in office was plagued with rumors about his health, which all came to a head during last year's election.
His age and health were dominant concerns among voters during his time as president, but the 82-year-old and the White House dismissed concerns about his mental acuity.
Biden ultimately dropped out of the race as the Democratic Party's candidate presidential candidate against Trump after his disastrous performance in their only debate.
What To Know
Tapper said a "big tell" that Biden's decline was being covered up took place during and after a fundraiser in Los Angeles last year, when late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former president Barack Obama.
There was a "20-to-30-minute conversation on stage" that was "only meant to boost Biden" but "there is no official campaign video released to the public of that," Tapper said.
"It's shocking that that would happen, but only if you were trying to hide something from the public," Tapper added.
He went on to describe how, when some video did escape, some of which showed Biden "wandering on stage and looking out into the audience blankly," the White House insisted they were "cheap fakes."
"The White House suggests that it was fake - it wasn't fake, it was real," Tapper said.
Tapper also told a story of how Biden did not recognize George Clooney backstage.
President Joe Biden, second right, and first lady Jill Biden, right, greet CNN event moderators Dana Bash, from left, and Jake Tapper following a presidential debate with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, hosted...
President Joe Biden, second right, and first lady Jill Biden, right, greet CNN event moderators Dana Bash, from left, and Jake Tapper following a presidential debate with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. More
AP
"And President Biden had known George Clooney, he had met him after 9/11 and had meetings with him, knew him personally," Tapper said.
"And Biden walks into this event and he doesn't recognize George Clooney," Tapper continued. "It's very obvious to people in this small group that George Clooney is not a face he recognizes. And his aide has to say 'you know George'."
"And it's obvious to people there that he doesn't recognize him," he said. "That's a shocking lack of memory."
Newsweek has contacted the Biden office, via online contact form, for comment.
Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden has rubbished the book as "unoriginal, uninspired lies."
It comes after a press release issued from Biden's personal office on Sunday said that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.
What People Are Saying
Former President Joe Biden, on X on Monday: "Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."
Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden wrote on X about Tapper's book: "Just read a copy of this silly book, and if anyone is curious for a review from someone who lived it first-hand: this book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class.
"The ones who rarely enter the arena, but profit from the spectacle of those that do. Put simply, it amounts to a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck. It relies on unnamed, anonymous sources pushing a self-serving false narrative that absolves them of any responsibility for our current national nightmare."
What Happens Next
The former president and his family are reviewing treatment options by his physicians.
Treatment for metastatic prostate cancer typically involves hormone therapy to suppress testosterone, which feeds the cancer's growth. Additional options may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy for bone metastases, and newer targeted treatments.