Joe Biden's preparation for the June presidential debate, which ultimately derailed his re-election campaign, left his top aides "disappointed" and hoping beyond hope that he could simply turn it on when the cameras started rolling.
According to a new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain was seemingly shocked that Biden hadn't been studying materials given to him to practice for the pivotal contest against Donald Trump.
“He’d been assured that Biden had been reviewing his prep materials before he arrived at Camp David, but he hadn’t," the authors wrote, according to the New York Post.
How did Biden prepare once arriving at Camp David? With a rigorous training regimen to get him in peak mental condition. Well, maybe not so much.
“He was rusty and exhausted when he arrived, essentially sleeping that whole first day. And even after that, taking lots of naps,” the book reveals.
During mock debates, Biden was reportedly "all over the place" and his mouth was "agape" so often that his advisers had to tell him to close it.
Tapper and Thompson note in the book that many of the former president's top people still left the sessions "feeling good" about what was to come.
CNN: Biden just told donors that he nearly fell asleep during the debate because of all his international travel — despite having a week of rest at Camp David, including a daily naptime. Does that concern you at all?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 2, 2024
Junior Rep. Max Frost: No pic.twitter.com/HSYVK32AHn
Now, here's where this book gets incredibly questionable. I am loath to offer Tapper and Thompson any publicity as they profit from a book 'exposing' the cover-up of Biden's cognitive decline when they and their employers happily engaged in said cover-up.
But, if Team Biden left these debate prep sessions involving a plethora of naps and practice on how to keep from going slack-jawed, why pray tell, did they also leave hoping the former President would turn his brain on like a switch?
"Time and again, aides had seen Biden be bad in prep and then better onstage. As [Biden campaign co-chair Jeffrey] Katzenberg said when they left Camp David: ‘Okay, well, our guy is a game-day performer,'” an excerpt from the book reads.
He was bad, but they felt good. But oh, the naps and mumbling. No, wait. Let's pray he turns it on when he needs to.
Nah, that dog don't hunt. The people speaking to the authors are only partially telling the truth. If they felt good, there would be no need to hope he suddenly transformed his entire being for the debate.
In another book about the 2024 presidential election, Klain similarly discussed his alarm at what he was seeing as they prepped Biden, describing him as "fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged." Which is interesting because he wound up looking "fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged" during the actual debate.
President Biden froze and then had a verbal blunder, saying he “beat Medicare,” minutes after he kicked off his debate with former President Donald Trump on Thursday pic.twitter.com/enAH0xG13a
— New York Post (@nypost) June 28, 2024
The fact that Biden's former aides and the media are still trying to portray the debate as the turning point in his mental decline is malpractice. The evidence was in place and on video almost daily for years - years!
They kept him hidden. They walked him through every appearance, including having the Easter Bunny shield him from the public eye. They guided his every step because they knew he wasn't functional.
The debate didn't just suddenly open up everyone's eyes. It was the only place where, for about 90 minutes, nobody could come to his rescue and pretend everything was okay. The jig was up. Where would we be right now if Biden's campaign somehow managed to back out of that appearance?
CNN contributor Scott Jennings, during a panel discussion on "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip" last night, explains.
Scott Jennings points out that the cover-up of Biden's cognitive decline is the "greatest scandal in modern American political history."
— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) May 14, 2025
"If he had somehow won and were in office, you‘d have the same people on TV today saying, ‘He‘s fine. Behind closed doors, he‘s fine.’” pic.twitter.com/zPXo6JNGZQ
"We‘ve lived through the greatest scandal in modern American political history. The cover-up of the decline of the president, the argument that he could serve four more years," Jennings said. "If he were in office today, if he had somehow won and were in office, you‘d have the same people on TV today saying, ‘He‘s fine. Behind closed doors, he‘s fine.’ And you know it.”
Tapper, Thompson, CNN, and Axios would have led the pack.
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