Could a scripted town hall in Delaware reveal the unvarnished struggles of a presidency under scrutiny? A bombshell book, "Original Sin," by Axios’ Alex Thompson and CNN’s Jake Tapper, dropped this week with jaw-dropping claims about former President Joe Biden’s faltering performance.
The Daily Caller reported that, according to the book, based on over 200 interviews with Democratic Party and White House insiders, Biden’s team faced a near-impossible task in presenting him as a viable figure for campaign ads, with one event in particular—a staged town hall—becoming a spectacular flop.
Let’s rewind to this Delaware town hall, where Biden’s aides reportedly set up a friendly crowd, hoping to capture golden footage for campaign spots.
Over 90 minutes of video came out of it, and guess what? Not a single frame was deemed usable.
Some insiders blamed the gym’s lighting for the dud, but others pointed the finger squarely at Biden’s performance.
“The man could not speak,” one person involved reportedly said, per Axios. If lighting is your biggest excuse, maybe it’s time to rethink who’s in the spotlight.
This wasn’t a one-off, either. The book claims Biden’s campaign repeatedly struggled to get workable footage of him, often resorting to dual cameras to hide edits or stumbled lines. It’s almost as if they were filming a Hollywood blockbuster instead of a presidential message.
When outside groups supporting Biden asked for five minutes of footage, the White House often could only muster one or two minutes. Some clips were so heavily edited that campaign staffers regretted even releasing them. That’s not a campaign strategy; that’s a salvage operation.
“Every shoot was anxiety-inducing for Biden’s team,” the authors write in "Original Sin." If your own team is sweating bullets over a simple video, what does that say about confidence in the leader? It’s a question conservatives have been asking for years about progressive figureheads.
But the book doesn’t stop at campaign woes; it rolls out more troubling excerpts in the week before its release.
One claim suggests aides considered a wheelchair for Biden post-election, while another alleges he failed to recognize longtime friend George Clooney. These tidbits paint a picture of concern that even the most loyal supporters might find hard to ignore.
Then, just two days before the book’s publication, Biden’s staff dropped another bombshell: a diagnosis of an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Doctors and cancer experts had previously told the Daily Caller that Biden likely had cancer while still in the White House. It’s a health revelation that adds a somber note to an already turbulent narrative.
The type of cancer, involving metastasis from prostate to bones, typically takes five years or more to develop, per experts.
“It’s not credible that we are hearing of his metastatic disease for the first time because he was having difficulty urinating and they found it,” said Dr. Steven Quay, a physician and scientist, to the Daily Caller. That timing raises eyebrows for those skeptical of convenient narratives.
President Donald Trump didn’t hold back, either, weighing in on Truth Social with a scathing take. He suggested Biden’s staff, aware of cognitive issues, were behind destructive policies and had effectively “stolen” the presidency.
“It wasn’t his idea to Open the Border, and almost destroy our Country,” Trump posted, claiming Biden’s team exploited his impairment.
While Trump’s words are fiery, they echo a frustration many conservatives feel about accountability in leadership. It’s a debate that’s not going away anytime soon.
Amid these allegations, Biden did make public appearances, including speaking onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. The convention spanned Aug. 19-22, offering a platform for Democrats to rally. But did those moments counter the book’s claims, or simply mask deeper issues?