“He totally f***ed us.”
It’s rare to hear a political party operative speak this way about one of his own. It’s almost unheard of to hear a well-known campaign adviser like David Plouffe speak this way on the record about the former president of the United States, Joe Biden. Especially in this Democratic Party.
But that’s exactly what he did, in a new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson called “Original Sin,” which investigates “President Biden’s decline, its cover up, and his disastrous choice to run again.”
“We got so screwed by Biden, as a party,” says Plouffe, who was a top campaign adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris in her 11th hour 2024 run, and former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008.
Plouffe’s candor is refreshing — and necessary. After protecting Biden and misleading voters about his ability to beat Donald Trump and serve another term, it’s crucial that Democrats win back the trust of American voters.
But still nearly six months after the election, Plouffe was one of very few sources who would openly discuss Biden’s declining health and his insistence on running for a second term. Nearly 200 other sources remained anonymous, still unwilling to say what is obvious to so many: Biden cost the Dems the election, and helped put Trump back in the White House.
Their continued silence and refusal to admit their failures will only assure Dems remain deeply distrusted.
There are plenty of uncomfortable — and even infuriating — revelations in the book. Much of the blame is pointed towards Biden’s inner circle.
“The Politburo,” as the book unflatteringly calls them, tried to control the damage of Biden’s declining health by shielding him from even his own staff, limiting working hours to urgent business only between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., telling speechwriters to keep his remarks brief, and having him use the short stairs to Air Force One.
Cabinet meetings were mostly scripted for him.
Aides increasingly escorted Biden to Marine One in packs to hide his shuffle, and in case he fell. There were talks of putting him in a wheelchair after the election.
Jill Biden, his wife, was also reportedly unwilling to entertain any criticism or fears over his abilities, and became much more involved in his decision-making.
But even people who knew Biden well were shocked at his frailty and cognitive decline. According to the book, Biden repeatedly forgot the names of longtime aides and allies, including Mike Donilon, who had worked for him for more than 40 years. Biden also forgot the names of National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Comms Director Kate Bedingfield. He confused his Health Secretary Xavier Becerra with his Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Alabama with Texas.
Obama had to rescue his former veep several times at a fundraiser, finishing his sentences or reminding him who people were.
George Clooney, a longtime friend of Biden’s, was stunned when the president didn’t recognize him at a star studded fundraiser that Clooney himself was hosting.
Even amidst these alarming details, which again only reaffirm what we could all plainly see with our own eyes, Bidenworld is remaining defiant.
Biden’s spokesman Chris Meagher told the New York Times that they hadn’t seen the book yet. “We continue to await anything that shows where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or where national security was threatened or where he was unable to do his job. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.”
Not only is this the kind of blind loyalty Dems rightly scold MAGA Republicans for — failing to do the right thing if it meant crossing their boss — but it’s keeping the party from moving on.
Biden’s media stops at places like “The View,” where he needed help from Jill to complete a thought, where he blamed Harris’ loss on sexism and racism, where he denied any cognitive failures, and where he insisted he would have beat Trump, ensure the decisive 2024 loss continues to haunt both the party and the electorate.
In a new Echelon Insights focus group for Puck, some of the first words that came to mind when voters thought about the Democratic Party were “weak,” “corrupt,” “liars,” “ineffective,” and “disorganized.”
In protecting Biden for as long as it did, the party failed to do its most important job: keep Trump from returning to the White House, where he’s not just back, but emboldened.
If they want to win again, they can’t just skip over these hard but necessary truths, laid bare in a book that attempts to do what many Dems apparently still can’t — on the record, anyway.
