A book written by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson reportedly claims that former President Joe Biden’s aides discussed wheelchair use if he were reelected in 2024.
The book, “Original Sin,” comes out later this month. According to Axios, Biden’s “physical deterioration was so severe in 2023 and 2024” that his aides were fixated on the possibility of him needing a wheelchair to make it through a second term of his presidency. At the time, he was 81 years old.
Obviously, Biden ended up dropping out of the presidential race, but not until he faced pressure from his party to do so after his disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump (via Axios):
The conversations also reveal the White House's determination to conceal the reality of Biden's condition, at the risk of his own health, while he faced a tough re-election bid against Donald Trump.
– The book is based on interviews with more than 200 people, mostly Democratic insiders, with knowledge of the events that unfolded during the final two years of Biden's presidency. Almost all of the interviews took place after the 2024 election.
"Biden's physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election," the authors reportedly wrote.
Additionally, Biden’s aides reportedly believed it would be “politically untenable” to have Biden use a wheelchair on the campaign trail.
"Given Biden's age, [his physician Kevin O'Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery," the authors also wrote.
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During this time, Biden staffers began brainstorming shorter walking paths for the president and making arrangements to set up handrails for the president for speaking events. Additionally, Biden began wearing sneakers more often. Biden’s staff told reporters that the president’s halting walk was the result of a foot fracture he sustained in 2020.
Axios noted that O’Connor reported in 2020 that both fractures in the president’s foot were completely healed.
A Biden spokesperson who spoke to Axios said the president’s "medical exam made clear that he had a stiffened gait caused, in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened."
"He was transparent about this, and it was far from 'severe,'" the spokesperson added. "Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity."
"And so far," they continued, "we are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president."
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