CNN’s Jake Tapper is the co-author of a new book detailing the lengths to which the Biden administration and its allies engaged in a “cover-up” of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline — even though the anchor himself dismissed concerns about the then-president’s age.
Tapper was eviscerated on social media earlier this week after book publisher Penguin Press announced that the veteran anchor of “The Lead” and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson co-authored a book titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
X users pointed out that Tapper frequently brushed aside suggestions that Biden’s verbal gaffes and physical stumbles were signs of advanced aging — instead accepting the administration’s claims that the then-president suffered from a stutter.
In 2020, Tapper interviewed Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump who said that Biden was exhibiting signs of “cognitive decline” while campaigning for the presidency.
“How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?” Tapper asked Lara Trump in the 2020 interview.
“I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody’s cognitive decline.”
In 2022, Biden gave a State of the Union address in which he mistakenly referred to Ukrainians as “Iranians.”
In analyzing the speech afterward, Tapper said: “Considering his speaking talents and challenges, it was a fairly solid performance.”
The reaction on social media was scathing.
“What a joke,” former White House press secretary Sean Spicer observed on X. “Tapper and @CNN covered up Biden’s decline and now you guys want to profit from it.”
“This is like committing a crime and then investigating yourself for that crime,” wrote Collin Rugg, who added: “If he was serious about exposing the cover up he could just report on what he did and didn’t do between 2021 and 2024.”
Sean Davis, a conservative commentator, wrote on X: “Tapper could’ve outed the Biden mental incapacity cover-up at any time over the last four years. But he didn’t.”
“He waited until Biden was gone before trying to get rich for disclosing facts he claimed were lies the whole time Biden was in office,” Davis wrote.
The book, which is due out on May 20, bears the title “original sin” to describe what the authors view as the initial mistake which led to the Democrats’ downfall in the most recent election — Biden’s decision to run for re-election despite evident signs of his decline.
“What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless — a desperate bet that went bust — and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents,” Penguin said in a press release.
Biden, “his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations,” according to the press release.
“Toni Morrison once said ‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it,’” Jake Tapper said in a statement.
“That’s what inspired this book: we wanted to know more about what we all just lived through. More than 200 interviews later, Alex and I have a much better idea. And soon you all will too.”
Tapper and Thompson observe that “what the world saw at Joe Biden’s one and only debate was not an anomaly — it was not a cold, it was not someone who was under or overprepared, it was not someone who was just a little tired.”
“It was the natural result of an eighty-one-year-old man whose faculties had been diminishing for years,” the co-authors wrote.
“Biden, his family, and his team let their self-interest and fear of another Trump term justify trying to put an at times addled old man in the Oval Office for four more years,” the authors wrote.
“What was the extent of it? Was it a cover-up? Was it a conspiracy? We will let the facts speak for themselves.”
During his presidency, Biden faced growing concerns about his cognitive health, particularly due to his age.
At 78, he was the oldest president to assume office.
Throughout his term, Biden’s frequent verbal gaffes, moments of confusion and physical stumbles fueled speculation about cognitive decline.
The White House maintained that he was in good health, but reports suggested aides carefully managed his schedule to limit unscripted interactions.
Concerns intensified during the 2024 election cycle, especially after a poor debate performance in June, where Biden appeared confused and struggled to provide clear responses.
The debate, which aired on CNN, was moderated by Tapper and network colleague Dana Bash.
This led to calls for him to withdraw from the race, as polls indicated many voters doubted his ability to serve another term.
A report from Special Counsel Robert Hur in early 2024 further highlighted his memory lapses, describing Biden as a “sympathetic, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Mounting pressure ultimately led Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race in July, endorsing Kamala Harris, the then-vice president who went on to lose the election to Donald Trump.
Many analysts believe earlier acknowledgment of these issues could have improved the Democrats’ chances of keeping the White House.
The Post has sought comment from CNN.
