Former President Joe Biden took part in the inaugural presidential debate of the 2024 election against the current President Donald Trump at CNN’s facilities in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024.
(Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Ron Klain, the previous White House chief of staff, disclosed that President Joe Biden appeared “fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged” prior to his debate with President Donald Trump in June, as outlined in a new publication.
In the first meeting with Biden at Aspen Lodge, the president’s retreat, author Chris Whipple recounted that Klain “was taken aback. He had never encountered Biden so worn out and disoriented. Biden seemed oblivious to the happenings in his own campaign. Halfway through the meeting, the president excused himself to sit by the pool,” according to an excerpt featured in The Guardian.
Whipple’s upcoming book, titled “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,” is expected to be launched this month. Klain, a trusted ally and significant supporter of the former president, served as his chief of staff from 2021 to 2023, aiding Biden in readying for his June debate against Trump.
“The president was fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged,” Whipple noted in the excerpt. “Klain was worried that the debate with Trump would be a publicly broadcast calamity.”
To prepare for the debate, the team arranged two mock debates for Biden.
“The first was planned for 90 minutes, but Klain canceled it after 45. The president’s voice was strained, and so was his understanding of the topics. His primary focus was on his infrastructure plan and how he was rebuilding America and creating 16 million jobs. He had little to say about his agenda for a potential second term,” Whipple detailed.
Whipple reported that Klain noted the president was irritable as he resisted the former chief of staff’s recommendations.
“Just 25 minutes into the second mock debate, the president was done for the day. ‘I’m just too tired to continue, and I’m worried about losing my voice and I feel bad,’ Klain quoted the president. ‘I just need some sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow.’ He then went off to sleep.”
In an interview with Politico regarding his book, Whipple noted that several of Biden’s closest aides were in a “fog of delusion” about the former president, asserting that labeling it a “cover-up” didn’t capture the complexity of the situation.
“I have new information chronicling Biden’s final days on an hourly and daily basis, and certainly his decline factors significantly into the narrative,” Whipple mentioned to Politico on Sunday. “To refer to it as a ‘cover-up’ feels too simplistic. The reality was stranger and much more concerning than that. Biden’s inner circle, including many of his closest advisors, were entrenched in a fog of delusion and denial. They believed in what they wanted to believe.”
Biden’s team has not provided a response to a request for comment.
Whipple’s book joins several others set to be released this year that delve into the 2024 campaign, which has proven to be one of the most tumultuous and unpredictable election seasons in recent memory.
Amie Parnes from The Hill and Jonathan Allen from NBC News are also publishing a book discussing the campaign and the events leading up to the former president’s exit from the race.
Allen revealed that former President Barack Obama opposed Kamala Harris potentially taking Biden’s place on the ticket and worked against her endeavors behind the scenes.
CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson are also planning to release a book titled, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” set for May.
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