The recording, released on Saturday (17) by Axios agency, coincides with the publication of a book that tells how the White House hid the growing weaknesses of an octogenarian president
The disclosure of an audio recording of 2023, in which the then president of losing the notion of important dates of his life, sheds light on the decline of his abilities while still in office. The recording, released in full on Saturday (17) by the Axios News Agency, coincides with the next publication of an investigative book that narrates how the White House has hid the growing weaknesses of an octogenarian president who had long closed his candidacy for reelection.
Long silences, interspersed phrases and, above all, memory problems: this interview of Democrat Biden with a prosecutor in a case of confidential documents exposes a man who no longer remembers the date of his son’s death, nor the first election of Republican Donald Trump, who succeeded him in January for a second term.
Special prosecutor Robert Hur had publicly described Biden, now 82, as an “old man with bad memory.” The White House then considered these comments “inappropriate”. The recording shows the decline of the democratic leader between his electoral victory in 2020 and his disastrous debate with Trump in June 2024, who revealed his speech difficulties and finally led him to throw the towel and pass the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris, which was eventually defeated by the Republican Magnata.
The book, which will be available in US bookstores on Tuesday, reports how the Democrat’s intimate circle tried to protect him after several gaffes, errors and stumbling blocks. Written by CNN journalists Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper, the book describes Joe Biden’s “original sin” – from the English work title, ‘original Sin’ – by launching his reelection campaign in the spring of 2023, despite his cognitive deficiency.
According to the authors, the stubbornness of Biden and his entourage directly led to the defeat of the Democratic Party. “As a party, Biden made us silly,” David Plouffer, former senior counselor of former President Barack Obama, told the authors.
The two journalists describe Biden as a president who didn’t seem to recognize his friend, actor George Clooney, or who no longer knew where to position himself on stage, as well as the great embarrassment of his supporters until many encouraged him, after the disastrous debate with Trump, to withdraw from the presidential race.
Biden, who left the White House four months ago, denies having suffered any cognitive disability at the end of his term. “Nothing allows you to say that,” he told ABC in early May. “After I retired from the presidential race, I remained president for six months and did a good job. But what scared everyone was that debate,” he said.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
