State of the US election campaign: How bad was the situation really for Joe Biden?

A wheelchair during the election campaign would have been impossible, that much was clear to everyone. A devastating signal to American voters. But Joe Biden's physical condition had deteriorated so much that advisors were discussing whether the American president might be better off using a wheelchair after a possible re-election.

At least, that's what journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson write in their book about Biden's condition during the election campaign, which will be published next week. Biden's personal physician also warned that if he suffers another serious fall, he might need a wheelchair for recovery.

Six months after the presidential election, the book by the two capital correspondents once again brings the debate about Biden's health into focus. Despite obvious signs of aging, the then 81-year-old Democrat had maintained until the very end that he alone could defeat Trump. Many in his party blame him for Kamala Harris's defeat, claiming she was unable to gain a foothold after his late withdrawal. But the true severity of Biden's health problems is only slowly coming to light.

Tapper and Thompson say they spoke with more than 200 people for this, most of them after the election. Some of Biden's former advisors continue to offer reassuring comments in the book, only excerpts of which have been published so far. Physical signs of aging do not affect mental fitness, they say at one point. But many also report experiencing mental lapses.

It's no secret that actor and major Democratic donor George Clooney was horrified by Biden's condition after an event with him in the summer of 2024. After the disastrous TV debate against Trump, Clooney wrote in the "New York Times" that the Biden he had recently seen was no longer the man he was in 2020. He said it was time for a change. In the book "Hubris: Decay, Cover-up, and Joe Biden's Fatal Decision," the authors now describe the encounter in detail. An advisor, he says, had to remind the president repeatedly who he was standing in front of.

"You know George," he reportedly said, "George Clooney." Biden reportedly replied, "Yeah, yeah, thanks for being here." Clooney hosted the fundraiser. The authors write that the actor was "shaken to the core" that Biden apparently didn't recognize him despite years of acquaintance. Other attendees said Biden's performance was "horrible" and almost unbearable.

According to Tapper and Thompson, there were still good days and bad. "It wasn't a straight line of decline." But until the last day of his presidency, Biden refused to accept that "his energy, cognitive abilities, and communication skills" had significantly deteriorated. "Even worse," Biden and his inner circle tried to hide it. Both authors covered the campaign extensively last year and paid far less attention to Biden's health than their book does now.

Thompson expressed self-criticism at the annual meeting of the White House Correspondents' Association at the end of April. Biden's decline shows that every White House, regardless of party, is "capable of deception," he said in his speech. But one must also admit that "we, myself included, missed a lot of this story." Thompson emphasized that one shares responsibility for the low level of trust in the media. "I say this because admitting mistakes builds trust, and a defensive posture further undermines that trust."

President Donald Trump is only slightly younger than Biden; he turns 79 in June. Yet the Republican spoke to journalists almost daily, while Biden ultimately held barely any press conferences or gave interviews. David Plouffe, a staffer on Harris's presidential campaign and Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager, openly blames Biden for the Democrat's defeat in the book. Plouffe says that after receiving concerned calls from donors about Biden's condition, he tried to find out more. But he "totally screwed us over."