Former President Joe Biden has been in the news quite a bit over the weekend and this weekend, especially to do with concerns of his presidency and who was really running the country. It was a major topic of the Sunday shows, including on CNN's "State of the Union," which featured Jake Tapper interviewing Rep. James Clyburn (R-SC), a top Biden ally who played a significant role in the South Carolina primary and thus the overall Democratic Party for 2020.
Speaking about "the debate going on within the Democratic Party right now," when it comes to Biden's decline, an issue that has been apparent since the start of his presidency if not sooner, Tapper brought up last Friday's release of the audio tapes between Robert Hur and Biden when he was president. "In that audiotape, you hear President Biden rambling, unable to keep a train of thought, getting dates wrong," Tapper mentioned before playing a clip, which is putting it politely.
"Needless to say, even supporters of the president have heard these tapes and been alarmed by it," Tapper mentioned, after playing a clip of Biden getting the dates wrong of when he left office as former President Barack Obama's vice president, and when President Donald Trump was elected for his first term. "What was your response to them? Did you see much of that when you had meetings and interactions with President Biden during his term?" Tapper asked.
"No, I didn't," Clyburn claimed, as he then tried to brush off how much he actually saw Biden as president. "The fact of the matter is, I saw Biden often, but not as often as people seem to think. I saw him. I talked to him on the telephone very often, and I never saw anything that I thought was outside of the ordinary."
Clyburn then spoke of how people, such as his father, "slow down" with age. "So I never saw anything I thought was unusual. Did he talk as swiftly as he used to talk? No, he didn't. Did he walk as swiftly? No, he didn't. But that is to be expected. Those of us who reach that age, as I have, we don't walk as often as--as fast as we used to. And I may talk as fast as I used to, but we down here in the South don't talk all that fast anyway," he added.
Tapper provided something of a pushback, not only to do with the audio, "but also throughout 2023, 2024, especially on the debate stage," with respect to that CNN debate from June 27 last year, between Trump and Biden.
It's worth mentioning that those who spoke to concerns during that time were gaslit by the Biden White House, especially by then Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who was not only severely lacking in transparency, but also claimed that those sharing video evidence of the then president's decline were sharing "cheap fakes."
Tapper went for what should have been an even more direct answer from there, asking, "Do you think that Joe Biden really would have been able to perform as president all the way through January 2029, when he would be 86?"
Shockingly, Clyburn offered that he did. "Yes, I thought that back then. I still think that, but I don't know that," he answered. "When people ask me, did I know this or did I know the other, and the fact of the matter is, no I didn't. And that's--you make my point here. So it's not all about age. I have seen people develop Alzheimer's when they're in the 30s and 40s. So it's not about age. It's about the ability to do the job. And I never saw anything that allowed me to think that Joe Biden was not able to do the job. It's just that simple," he even added.
This comes despite how Clyburn acknowledged that the debate "absolutely" made him concerned about doing the job as president. He tried to claim that those were merely "incidents," though. Clyburn even claimed to speak for fellow Democrats when it comes to their concerns with the president's schedule for the debate. "And so these kinds of concerns were out there, but none of us thought that there was anything here that created any suspicions of any prolonged condition," Clyburn claimed.
Tapper: Do you still believe Biden would've been able to perform as president for another four years?
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 18, 2025
Clyburn: Yes.
Tapper is selling books. Clyburn is still selling The Big Lie.
What a spectacle. pic.twitter.com/mYDJ4N5SCu
After Biden had some disappointing losses in the first few caucuses and primaries, Clyburn endorsed him in South Carolina. In turn, Biden picked a black woman as his running mate, which he ultimately did with now former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was then a U.S. Senator for California. Harris was also the replacement nominee when Biden was forced out last July by his fellow Democrats, though she went on to lose to now President Donald Trump with both the Electoral College and popular vote.
Clyburn has also been asked about Biden and also Harris before, including during his other appearances on CNN, which similarly involved coy and downright laughable answers.
It's not merely Clyburn who deserves scrutiny for that episode of "State of the Union," though. Tapper's book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," co-authored by Axios' Alex Thompson was just released on Tuesday of this week, days after the interview with Clyburn aired.
Tapper and Thompson spoke with Megyn Kelly on her podcast on Tuesday for the book's release, with Kelly going scorched earth over the role Tapper himself played in covering up for Biden.
DOUBLING DOWN: 🚨After a lengthy hard-hitting interview with Megyn, Tapper STILL REFUSES to admit that he was apart of a cover up.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 20, 2025
Tapper: "I do not accept that I was part of a cover up. I do not accept that I was just providing cover for Joe Biden."pic.twitter.com/RYCtI07Lv5
🚨Jake Tapper CRUMBLES: Megyn Kelly ON FIRE! Biden Regime: FAKE ALL ALONG?! https://t.co/SSwofagduK
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 21, 2025
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