Close observers could see signs of President Joe Biden’s physical and neurological decline even before he took office in January 2021. But, as journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson detail in their explosive new book, Original Sin, “what was going on in private was worse.” Far worse, as even a cursory reading of their book makes clear. But equally troubling was the way a small circle of his family and closest advisors covered up Biden’s decline. The detail Tapper and Thompson reveal is shocking. And they make clear that the tight circle around President Biden enabled, even encouraged his stubborn insistence on running for a second term until it was too late. They did so believing against all available evidence that only the president could beat Donald Trump in 2024. Which just goes to show that they were as much in denial as he was.
The crux of the matter
One of the more than 200 people Tapper and Thompson interviewed gets to the heart of the issue. “’The presidency is about two things: making decisions and communicating those decisions to the American people,’ one senior administration official who worked closely with Biden told us. ‘The president’s decisions were always solid and deeply considered. But the second part of that—communicating those decisions—that was never easy for him throughout his presidency, and in fact it got worse.’” The problem the Democratic Party faced was that, however well Joe Biden performed as a decision-maker—though it’s debatable, the authors never question that—he was incapable of mounting a credible campaign against a man who also bore the title of president.
Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson (2025) 348 pages ★★★★★
The family and “the Politburo”
Close observers of the White House used a number of names to describe the tight circle around President Biden. Tapper and Thompson consistently employ the term “the Politburo.” Its members included:
- Mike Donilon, Senior Advisor to the President, who “was the actual political director” regardless of his title;
- Steve Ricchetti, Counselor to the President, who controlled Legislative Affairs;
- Bruce Reed, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, who “was the real domestic policy adviser;” and
- Ron Klain, Chief of Staff from 2021 to 2023, who “remained close to Biden even after exiting the role,” according to the New York Times.
These four men, all with long histories of working with Biden, formed the core of the Politburo. But others played instrumental roles in the cover-up, and the Times includes them in its list of the group’s members:
- Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to First Lady Jill Biden;
- Annie Tomasini, White House Deputy Chief of Staff;
- First Lady Jill Biden;
- Hunter Biden, the President’s sole surviving son; and
- Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tapper and Thompson also cite others, but these nine people—and the President himself—were the primary actors. Meanwhile, they write, “Others on the White House staff thought the continued campaign was a catastrophe.”
Oh, just in case you’re wondering (as I did), the authors explain the book’s title: “The original sin of Election 2024 was Biden’s decision to run for reelection—followed by aggressive efforts to hide his cognitive diminishment.”
Three crucial weeks
Fifty million people witnessed President Joe Biden’s decline in full flower on June 27, 2024. That was the night when he debated former President Donald Trump. Many observers, including top Democratic Party officials, felt the evidence was so strong that the only wise course after that disastrous performance was for the President to drop out of the reelection campaign—or even to resign, ceding the office to Vice President Harris. (That would give her a leg up in a race against Donald Trump.)
Of course, the President didn’t take himself out of the running until July 21, more than three weeks later. And that came only after his friends outside the White House managed to penetrate the wall of denial the Politburo had thrown up around him. In Original Sin, Tapper and Thompson focus on those three crucial weeks, detailing the course of events as they unfolded day by day. It’s a deeply troubling account—and overdue.
About the authors
Jake Tapper is the lead Washington anchor for CNN and has won numerous awards as a journalist. He is the author of six books, including three nonfiction and a series of three murder mysteries. Tapper was born in New York City in 1969 and educated at Dartmouth College. He is married and the father of two children.
Journalist Alex Thompson is a National Political Correspondent at Axios. He was previously a political analyst at CNN and a White House correspondent for Politico. Thompson was educated at Harvard. He lives in Washington, DC.
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