New book details concerns harbored by Biden staffers ahead of disastrous debate
Many Democrats long denied that former President Joe Biden suffered from cognitive difficulties despite mounting public evidence.
However, a new book claims that White House insiders were well aware that rumors concerning Biden's mental decline were true, particularly as he attempted to prepare for what turned out to be a fateful debate matchup against Donald Trump.
Former official: Biden was "befuddled"
According to the Daily Caller, that allegation is presented in Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History.
Authored by journalist Chris Whipple, the book is set to be released next week and is partly based on interviews with former White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
The Daily Caller published excerpts, which described Klain's attempts at helping the then president prepare for his first and only debate against President Donald Trump.
"The president was fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged," Whipple wrote. "Klain feared the debate with Trump would be a nationally televised disaster."
Biden confused, "irritable" during debate prep
Whipple explained that the initial debate preparation session was scheduled to run for 90 minutes but had to be ended after just an hour and a half.
This was due to the fact that Biden was growing "irritable" and apparently struggling to articulate his plans regarding domestic policy.
What's more, Biden's second round of training was also unsuccessful as the candidate seemed "out of touch" and insisted that he need to get some sleep.
"‘I’m just too tired to continue and I’m afraid of losing my voice here and I feel bad,'" the then president was quoted as saying. "'I just need some sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow,'" he added before going to bed.
Biden "unaware" of campaign developments
Klain also expressed concern over seeing Biden's condition during a meeting at Aspen Lodge, a cabin which is located on the grounds of Camp David.
He spoke of having been "startled," given that he had "never seen" the then commander-in-chief "so exhausted and out of it."
"Biden was unaware of what was happening in his own campaign. Halfway through the session, the president excused himself and went off to sit by the pool," Whipple recounted Klain saying and added that Biden subsequently fell asleep.
Interestingly, podcaster Megyn Kelly pointed out on Wednesday that Klain was among those telling the public that Biden was fit for duty and even played clips of him saying as much.
