Biden Health Cover-Up: Media Failed to Get Outside Story

There is a tension at the heart of Original Sin, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book about “President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” At the end of the authors’ note that opens the book, they promise that they will tell the story that “was in front of our noses.” But how can anyone cover up what’s on full display? And who were the victims of this cover-up? By late 2021, less than a year into Joe Biden’s term, most Americans already thought he was too old for the job.

But there is a difference between concluding that, as a matter of common sense, having an octogenarian president is risky; seeing public appearances in which Biden was clearly past his peak performance; inferring that he was probably having worse days when the public wasn’t seeing him; and knowing that he sometimes forgot the names of people who had worked closely with him for decades. It’s that last type of datum that the public didn’t have — and, Tapper and Thompson show in detail, that Biden’s associates kept from us.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Joe Biden

Journalism

There is a tension at the heart of Original Sin, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book about “President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” At the end of the authors’ note that opens the book, they promise that they will tell the story that “was in front of our noses.” But how can anyone cover up what’s on full display? And who were the victims of this cover-up? By late 2021, less than a year into Joe Biden’s term, most Americans already thought he was too old for the job.

But there is a difference between concluding that, as a matter of common sense, having an octogenarian president is risky; seeing public appearances in which Biden was clearly past his peak performance; inferring that he was probably having worse days when the public wasn’t seeing him; and knowing that he sometimes forgot the names of people who had worked closely with him for decades. It’s that last type of datum that the public didn’t have — and, Tapper and Thompson show in detail, that Biden’s associates kept from us.