A new book accessed by Hill discusses how staff members from former President Biden’s White House managed his Cabinet Meetings, utilizing multiple cameras to capture them.
Excerpts from “The Original Crime: President Biden’s Decline, Its Concealment, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by CNN’s Jake Tupper and Axios’ Alex Thompson illustrate the lengths taken to shield signs of Biden’s cognitive decline during his presidency and reelection campaign.
The book, set to be published on Tuesday, highlights various challenges Biden faced. Notably, there’s an account of him failing to recognize actor George Clooney at a fundraising event, despite their long acquaintance. It also mentions campaign plans for potential reelection, including the possibility that he might need a wheelchair.
Tupper and Thompson reveal that Biden has become increasingly reliant on teleprompters and note cards, even in private settings like Cabinet meetings.
Prior to these meetings, his staff reached out to various departments to gather questions for Biden and prepare responses. Even when reporters left the room, discussions remained largely scripted, according to the authors.
Some Cabinet Secretaries expressed that Biden appeared to need the cards more in the absence of the press, as stated in the book.
To ensure anonymity, Tupper and Thompson interviewed four Cabinet Secretaries who shared their honest opinions without fear of backlash.
One Secretary described the Cabinet meetings as “terrible” and uncomfortable from the beginning, noting a lack of memorable presence. “They were so scripted,” he remarked.
Another Secretary admitted to disliking the “scripts,” though some aides countered that such meetings were typically stiff and time-consuming. They argued that Biden was generally more engaged in smaller gatherings and were not overly worried about his frequent use of note cards or occasionally unclear speeches.
The authors also reported a staged town hall held by the campaign to film a commercial at a high school gym last April. Although Biden appeared to be asking spontaneous questions, the event was closed to the press, and the campaign was given questions beforehand.
When asked for a five-minute address for the keynote, the White House indicated that a typical video would last one to two minutes, but Biden struggled with it.
To mitigate this, aides used two cameras instead of one to film Biden. If he stumbled, the edits in the final product would seem less obvious, as noted by the authors. While jump cuts are common in political videos, Biden’s aides often pointed out how frequently they had to employ them for him.
The upcoming book’s release adds to a challenging week for Biden, who has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones. This news sparked a wave of bipartisan support from both allies and opponents.
This followed the release of audio from an interview conducted with special advisor Robert Huar in October 2023.
