A new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson will allegedly shed light on the troubling behind-the-scenes details of former President Joe Biden’s physical condition during his final year in office.
Details include a private discussion among top aides about whether the 81-year-old commander-in-chief would need a wheelchair if he were re-elected.
The book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again is scheduled for release on May 20 and draws from over 200 interviews, most of them with Democratic insiders.
A preemptive report from Thompson suggests that Biden’s physical deterioration, especially his spinal arthritis and mobility issues, was far more serious than the administration publicly acknowledged, even as the former President kicked off his re-election campaign.
According to Tapper and Thompson, Biden’s “halting walk” had become so severe by 2024 that multiple inside conversations were held about the optics of transitioning him into a wheelchair. The consensus among staff was that such a move couldn’t happen during the campaign for fear of political fallout and that Biden would need to try and walk on.
Physician Kevin O’Connor, the President’s longtime doctor, allegedly warned insiders that another fall, like the one Biden suffered when tripping over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy in 2023, could force him into a wheelchair.
The White House then began quietly taking more precautions: altering event layouts to reduce walking distances, adding handrails to stairs, insisting on sneakers over dress shoes, and scripting every movement to avoid physical strain on the former President.
Despite these measures, Biden’s true condition remained largely out of the public spotlight.
O’Connor’s official reports referenced “post-fracture foot arthritis,” but focused more heavily on “significant spinal arthritis” – a diagnosis that seemed to contradict the more benign narrative put forth by Biden’s former team.
Perhaps most troubling is the implication that the White House prioritized the campaign against Trump over any public transparency with voters. While Americans were assured their President was up to the job, behind the scenes, staff were crafting campaign strategies around a debilitated aging man, warning one another of a potential campaign collapse.
The book also quotes O’Connor half-joking that the political staff was trying to kill Biden with the long days while he fought to keep the President alive.
Thompson argues that senior Democrats, including members of the Biden family, pushed forward with the re-election campaign despite daily growing signs of both physical and cognitive decline.
That gamble came to a head during the 2024 Presidential debate when Biden’s poor performance reportedly “stunned” party leaders and triggered calls for him to step aside.
Three weeks later, Biden ended his campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the democratic nominee.