PoliticsJoe Biden Footage From Staged Town Hall Was 'Unusable' Amid Concerns About His Cognitive Health, New Book Claims
Footage of Joe Biden from a staged town hall was 'unusable' amid concerns about his cognitive health, a new book claims.
Joe Biden appeared at a staged town hall in April 2024 to help his campaign, but the footage was unusable, according to a new book.
Concerns About Joe Biden's Cognitive Health
Joe Biden was 'often' unable to film 'even mundane remarks without botching lines,' Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book claims.
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again explains how Biden’s campaign needed footage of him speaking “sharply and fluidly” due to concerns about his cognitive health.
The event, which took place at a high school gym in Delaware, was supposed to be taped and used as a campaign commercial and make it seem like Biden was taking spontaneous questions from voters. The campaign had a list of questions that were to be asked, and the cameras taped 90 minutes of footage, however, none of it was usable.
While some blamed the gym’s lighting for the event not going well, others insisted it was Biden’s performance that made it a dud. Sadly, as they noted, Biden was “often” unable to film “even mundane remarks without botching lines.”
'The Man Could Not Speak'
A person told Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson Joe Biden 'could not speak.'
The authors also shared supportive groups of Biden requested a five-minute video address from the ex-president, but the White House would only allow for one or two-minute videos. They also revealed Biden was typically taped with two cameras so that any lines he messed up could be “smoothed over with jump cuts.”
“The man could not speak,” one person dished to the authors, who said every shoot with him was “anxiety-inducing" for his team.
Other revelations in the book include Biden not recognizing actor George Clooney at a fundraiser and Biden having to be led offstage by Barack Obama at the same event.
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Debunking the Allegations
Joe Biden's wife, Jill, claimed the 'people who wrote' the book 'didn't see how hard Joe worked.'
When appearing on The View in May, Jill Biden clapped back at reports in this book, stating, "The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us, and they didn't see how hard Joe worked every single day.”
As OK! reported, Naomi Biden, Joe’s eldest granddaughter, also insisted the claims in the book are not true.
Joe Biden's eldest granddaughter called the book 'political fairy smut.'
“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,” Naomi wrote in a post on social media platform X. “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.”
Biden’s representatives have not commented on any of the allegations in the forthcoming book.
