Latest news with #andHisDisastrous
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MSNBC host questions credibility of Biden cabinet secs who spoke out on president's decline after election
MSNBC host Eugene Daniels asked on Saturday why anyone should trust the former Biden administration cabinet secretaries who spoke to author Alex Thompson about Joe Biden's decline, noting that they didn't speak out while they were in office. "But why should people trust them now, right?" Daniels asked. "Because I don't know who these cabinet secretaries were, but maybe they probably want to work in a different administration. They want to be on K Street. They want to be at some think tank. Why should anyone trust them when they spend all this time — apparently no one got this information — and not telling anybody. Now they have a lot to say." MNSBC's "The Weekend" spoke with Axios reporter Alex Thompson about his new book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," which he co-wrote with CNN host Jake Tapper. MSNBC co-host Elise Jordan said the quotes from cabinet secretaries about the former president were the most powerful, reading one that said, "Over 2023 and 2024, the circle of people with access to the president grew smaller and smaller. Even the majority of Biden's cabinet members weren't in it." Thompson acknowledged it was a fair question and said the secretaries felt that if they spoke out, "it was only going to help Trump." Biden's Presidency Will Be Remembered As The 'Man That Was Too Old,' Says Byron York Jordan, after noting that Thompson included four cabinet secretaries who had concerns about the president, asked Thompson about what it was like getting these cabinet secretaries to speak out. Read On The Fox News App Thompson noted that the interviews didn't occur until after the election, but that he had been trying for several years to get them to talk. "I think a lot of them were scared because they felt that if they spoke out, it wasn't going to get Joe Biden out of the race, and also it was only going to help Donald Trump," Thompson said. The Axios reporter also described a cabinet secretary he spoke to who was shocked by Biden during a 2024 cabinet meeting and described the former president as incoherent. Daniels also asked Thompson to respond to Naomi Biden's, Joe Biden's granddaughter, rebuke of the book. Biden Battling 'Most Aggressive Type' Of Prostate Cancer With Bone Metastasis, Medical Expert Says Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Biden's granddaughter deemed the book "political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class" in a post on social media. "I think if you read the book, you will see that the Biden family is a completely cohesive and solid, very loyal clan. And I was not surprised to see that. I would say that I stand, and Jake and I both stand completely behind the reporting. Also, I'd say I think Naomi is a pretty good writer," Thompson said. Daniels also acknowledged that he had reached out to several former Biden officials to come on their show to defend the president, and they hadn't accepted, before noting Daniel Koh, a former deputy assistant to Biden, would be joining them to respond to Thompson's remarks. When Daniels asked about what he observed in the White House with the former president, Koh immediately pivoted to Donald Trump's presidency. Jordan asked if he detected any of the behavior described in Tapper and Thompson's book and Koh said, "he's 82 years old." "I was never concerned about his ability to make the right decision or his team around him making the right decision for the country. And I think that was reflected in the legislation that you were able to see him pass," he article source: MSNBC host questions credibility of Biden cabinet secs who spoke out on president's decline after election
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Biden says he's ‘feeling great' in first remarks since cancer diagnosis
Former President Biden said Friday he is 'feeling great' almost a week after publicly announcing his prostate cancer diagnosis. Biden made the comments from Connecticut's Bradley International Airport while visiting for his grandson's graduation, according to News8. The remarks are the first spoken since Biden's Sunday acknowledgement of the aggressive prognosis. On Monday, the longtime Democrat wrote a message to his followers thanking them for their support amid his health concerns. 'Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places,' the former president wrote. 'Thank you for lifting us up with love and support,' he added. As Biden continues to retreat from the public spotlight, the Trump administration has drawn flames from the cancer diagnosis. On Monday, Vice President Vance questioned the team around Biden while he was in office, suggesting staffers knew he was unfit to carry out the role of commander-in-chief. 'You can separate the desire for him to have the right health outcome, with the recognition that whether it was doctors or whether there were staffers around the former president, I don't think he was able to do a good job for the American people,' Vance told reporters. 'That's not politics, that's not because I disagreed with him on policy, that's because I don't think he was in good enough health. In some ways I blame him less than I blame the people around him,' he continued. Reporting from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson in the book, 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' has echoed those comments signaling that Biden's inner circle shielded him from scrutiny over a cognitive decline during his last year in office. The former president and his wife, Jill, have denied those allegations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tapper admits feeling 'humility' about past Biden coverage as liberals disparage new book
CNN host Jake Tapper has acknowledged "humility" about his past coverage of Joe Biden, although that hasn't stopped criticism of his and Axios reporter Alex Thompson's new book about the cover-up of the former president's decline while in office. "I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest," Tapper told CNN last week as he was pressed on the criticisms of himself and the book. "Of me, certainly. I'm not going to speak for anybody else, but knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years — and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on it with humility." Tapper and Thompson's new book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," was released on Tuesday. Tapper has admitted to insufficiently reporting on Biden's health concerns as his past coverage of the administration has been criticized by conservatives. "And so, look, she was right, and I was wrong," Tapper told NPR of a 2020 back-and-forth he had with Lara Trump, who was President Donald Trump's campaign adviser at the time. "And I look back at that exchange, and not just that, but my coverage in general - with humility. I don't - I mean, I did cover this. I can point to times, where, you know, I asked him this, or I asked him that, or I pointed this out to this person or whatever. Shielding Biden: Journalists Shed Light On The Media's Cover-up Of A Weakened President "But knowing what I know now, I barely scratched the surface. Very few people outside the conservative media world were doing so," he said Tuesday. In a separate interview on CBS, he said conservative media was "all over this." Read On The Fox News App Comedian Jon Stewart called out CNN on Monday for relentlessly promoting the book and slamming the network for advertising "a book about news they should've told you was news a year ago for free." "Don't news people have to tell you what they know when they find it out? Isn't that the difference between news and a secret?" Stewart asked. "'You won't believe what we found out!' No, that's why I'm watching. Breaking news… in a week." "You've prepared an entire smorgasbord based on what you thought would be a relatively uncomplicated story about mental decline. News has the countdown clock, they got the book graphics, they got the CNN Happy Meal tie-in toys, but now doing the story seems almost disrespectful," Stewart said. "Can CNN thread the needle? How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor's book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor's book?" Liberal Columnist Says That Denying 'Biden's Infirmity' Was Sign Of Democrats' 'Original Sin' In 2024 Campaign Radio host Charlamagne Tha God, a liberal who repeatedly spoke out against Biden and concerns about his age on the campaign trail despite his disdain for Trump, said Tuesday that he was looking forward to reading the book but remained skeptical of Tapper. "I'm looking forward to reading it because I want to see if people like Jake Tapper hold themselves and their networks, like CNN, accountable for how much they didn't report on," he said during his "Breakfast Club" show. "Because they're all complicit in not calling a thing a thing in regards to President Biden." "The View" co-host Joy Behar slammed CNN on Tuesday for "hawking" the book, and wondered when Tapper would write a book about Trump's decline. Co-host Sunny Hostin also focused her criticism on Trump officials who made money on books about the administration after Trump's first term. Whoopi Goldberg wondered why the book was important now and questioned the over 200 sources the authors spoke to, asking, "If you're telling me that hundreds of people knew that he was not able to do his job, then where the hell was everybody?" MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski, a strong Biden supporter, pushed back on the authors over the notion of a "cover-up" while speaking to Tapper and Thompson on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." The first question posed to Tapper and Thompson by Brzezinski was, "is it fair to say that Joe Biden had a successful presidency, remarkable presidency, possibly even a historic presidency in his time in office?" Brezinski maintained that the MSNBC morning show covered Biden and his re-election campaign in real-time, and while she applauded Tapper and Thompson's reporting, questioned the contention of a "cover-up," "And one of the contentions you make is that that's sort of the media didn't do its part, or did like way too late. And what's not in the book, is the day after the debate. Joe, very painfully, immediately, says Biden should step out of the race. And it was really a big change for the direction of the show. I personally went on a very long plea for him to stay in the race, and I still stand by it," she said. "Nobody agrees with me, but we debated this, and we covered this, and my point is that we did this in real time. There is definitely new information in this book, great reporting, but I want to understand why you're using words like cover up, which insinuates a crime or something. Was there a crime committed? Because we're in an environment where we are covering an administration that is actually in office right now, that is pushing the limits of the law in every way," Brzezinski added. Ex-cnn Journalist Speaks Out On Biden Cover-up, Says White House Aides Made It Difficult On Press Tapper said he and Thompson cover Trump critically on a daily basis. Brzezinski pushed back, saying "You've given hours and hours to this book." Brzezinski and co-host Joe Scarborough then asked bluntly what the cover-up was. Thompson responded by asking if the pair were shocked by the former president's June debate performance, and they responded, "yes." "If there was not a cover-up, then you guys wouldn't have been shocked," Thompson said. Liberal influencer Harry Sisson praised Naomi Biden's criticisms of the book. Naomi, Hunter Biden's daughter and Joe Biden's granddaughter, issued a scathing rebuke, deeming it "political fairy smut" on social media. "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," Naomi Biden wrote. Conservative critics have taken aim at Tapper since the announcement of his book, alleging he was part of the cover-up and "trying to re-write history" with his book. Journalist Mark Halperin has also called out Tapper, CNN and specifically, CNN media analyst Brian Stelter, for promoting the book. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture "Brian Stelter has been, over the course of the entire Biden presidency, one of the biggest critics of those on the right and those few people like me in the independent media who have tried to hold Joe Biden accountable," Halperin said. "He's accused us of, you know, being propagandists, of celebrating cheap fakes and deepfakes." "I don't understand someone whose job it is to hold the media accountable, to not hold, not just his own network, but every news organization in the country who, now it's clear, participated in a cover-up. Some because of threats, some because of a desire to help Joe Biden win," he added. "Massive cover-up." Figures on the right have not been quick to forget past media dismissals of Biden's issues. Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital the timing of the book was the "main reason why media is so distrusted these days." "It's all about ego and money and self-importance," he said. Reached for a comment, a representative for the book pointed to Tapper's remarks on MSNBC on Wednesday that many of their sources with critical comments about Biden, including cabinet secretaries and high-ranking Democratic insiders, didn't feel comfortable speaking until after the 2024 election. "Many of them expressed regret that they hadn't come forward until election day," he told "Morning Joe."Original article source: Tapper admits feeling 'humility' about past Biden coverage as liberals disparage new book
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Biden Aides Discussed Putting Him in a Wheelchair for Potential Second Term: Book
Aides to former President Joe Biden privately discussed putting the president in a wheelchair should he have managed to win a second term, according to new details from an upcoming book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson. According to details of the book published by Axios on Tuesday, in Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, Thompson and Tapper write that concern about Biden's declining health was so acute amongst his staff that 'there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election.' 'Given Biden's age, [his physician Kevin O'Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,' the book adds. Fears over the optics of a president in a wheelchair in the middle of a reelection campaign ultimately stayed their hand, but Thompson and Tapper write that the former president's team began taking precautions to avoid falls or other incidents, including decreasing the amount of walking expected of him, briefing him on routes, and having him wear sneakers more often. In a statement to Axios, a Biden spokesperson said that the former president's stiff gait toward the end of his term had been 'caused, in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened.' 'He was transparent about this, and it was far from 'severe,'' they added. 'Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity […] We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.' According to a separate review by The Guardian, which obtained a copy of the book, former Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe told the authors of Original Sin that Biden 'totally fucked us' by clinging onto the campaign despite clear signs to exit the race. Another source who spoke to Tapper and Thompson said that staff had 'attempted to shield [Biden] from his own staff so many people didn't realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023.' 'I love Joe Biden. When it comes to decency, there are few in politics like him. Still, it was a disservice to the country and to the party for his family and advisers to allow him to run again,' the unnamed senior aide added. A prominent Democratic strategist is quoted saying that 'it was an abomination' and that Biden 'stole an election from the Democratic party; he stole it from the American people.' There were several moments where Biden's age and mental decline were clearly visible in the waning months of his presidency, most notably during his disastrous debate against President Donald Trump in June of last year. Set for release on May 20, Original Sin will grapple with the decline in Biden's health as it unfolded both privately and publicly — and how the former president's refusal to step aside and pass the torch until mere months before the election may have set the stage for a second Trump term. More from Rolling Stone Jen Psaki on Launching a Primetime TV Show During Trump's 'Dangerous' Presidency Kamala Harris Slams Trump's 'Narrow, Self-Serving Vision of America' in Gala Speech Trump, Who Owes His Freedom to Due Process, Is Destroying It for Everyone Else Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Int'l Business Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Kamala Harris Aide Claims Joe Biden Ruined Her Chances Against Trump: 'He Totally F**ked Us'
An aide for Kamala Harris during her presidential campaign last year blasted former President Joe Biden for the timing of his decision to drop out of the race, saying that he "totally f---ed us" by doing so too late. The analysis by David Plouffe, who managed former president Barack Obama's successful 2008 run, is part of the book "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." Written by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, it also includes claims that top aides for Biden hid his declining mental condition from the lower-level staff and discussed the potential need to use a wheelchair should he be elected for a second term. Plouffe called the Harris campaign a "f---ing nightmare" and said "it's all Biden;" referring to the then-president's insistence to continue with his candidacy for over three weeks even after the disastrous debate against Donald Trump in which his mental acuity was put into question. A passage of the upcoming book, obtained by The Guardian, details how Plouffe received calls from donors worried about Biden, leading him to ask White House officials whether they believed Biden could win the election. He was repeatedly told Biden could. The book also quotes a senior aide who quit the White House because they did not think Biden should run saying that "we attempted to shield him from his own staff so many people didn't realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023." Moreover, a Democratic strategist called the decision an "abomination" and said Biden "stole an election from the Democratic party" and "the American people." Perhaps aware of the book's impact on his reputation, Biden gave two interviews last week to defend his course of action. He has also hired a communications strategist. Original Sin also details a visit by Obama to the White House in 2023, warning Biden to "just make sure" he could beat Donald Trump. Other figures related to the party who expressed concern about Biden's ability to run included donor Ari Emanuel, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Originally published on Latin Times
