Alex Thompson
Appearances
Apple News Today
Update: Two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed in D.C. What to know.
We had cabinet secretaries, multiple cabinet secretaries tell us that, you know, if there was a crisis at 2 a.m., they would have been worried. They did not have confidence that he would have been a reliable commander in chief with the middle of the night crisis.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
What Gets Ignored By the Partisans, Plus Sen. Ted Cruz on Two Different Tariff Paths Ahead for Trump
President Biden's decline? and its cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception. But being truth-tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story, and some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why The Bidens are "Big Liars," and Joe Scarborough on His "Best Biden Ever" Moment and What He Saw
I'm not sure the months were, but I think it was. That's right, Mr. President. And what's happened in the meantime is that as Trump gets elected in November of 2017, 2016, 2016, all right, so
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
Well, Alex Thompson and I were on the case, as were lots of other reporters, trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. But the bottom line is the White House was lying, not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to members of their own cabinet. They were lying to White House staffers.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
They were lying to Democratic members of Congress, to donors about how bad things had gotten. And in fact, Alex and I started writing this book after the election of 2024. And we spoke with more than 200 people, most of whom, almost all of whom were Democrats, and almost all of whom wouldn't be honest with us or wouldn't be candid with us until after the election.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
And then after the election, we found out all of these things that when you looked at what was going on with President Biden, At the time, it probably doesn't surprise you the extent to which he was deteriorating. But now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes with details that Democrats wouldn't share with us until after Election Day.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
Will you pledge that if you're elected, you will be transparent about your health, all facets of your health, with urgency so that we know? One poll shows that almost two-thirds of Democratic voters want a new nominee in 2024, and the top reason they gave was your age. You know, that's not a good number for President Biden.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
Two-thirds of the American people say he's not sharp enough to be president. Yeah, I mean, how can you use the bully pulpit when you don't have a bully you can put in the pulpit? Okay, so you're part of the 23% of adults who are not concerned about the president's ability to be president because of his age and stamina.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
I mean, I know incumbents in general are not popular right now, but do you ever think, maybe we should have a new candidate?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
This is a particularly bad week for this report and its comments about President Biden's faculties and his memory to come out because twice this week, he has acted as if he, in 2021, spoke to European leaders who have been dead for years. Part of the job of president is having the confidence of the American people in your faculties.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
You're about to turn 80 next month. Happy birthday. I had a time. Whenever anyone raises concerns about your age, the oldest president in the history of the United States, you always say, watch me. Voters have been watching you. Democratic voters approve of the job you're doing. Democratic voters overwhelmingly like you.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
But one poll shows that almost two-thirds of Democratic voters want a new nominee in 2024. And the top reason they gave was your age. So what's your message to Democrats who like you, who like what you've done, but are concerned about your age and the demands of the job?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
That's what I'm saying. That's 77 percent who are concerned.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
Sorry, okay.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
It's so amazing.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
Yeah, I think you were mocking his stutter. And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline. I would think that somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses. diagnosing politicians from afar. Plenty of people have diagnosed your father from afar, and I'm sure it offends you, your father-in-law from afar.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
I'm sure it offends you. You don't have any standing to say... I'm not diagnosing him.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
I'm curious about what his advisers were saying at the time as you look at this, as you reported out this book.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
You have an entire White House press corps, though, following him around. And I'm just curious as to whether or not this kind of trying to hide what was happening with the president at the time had an impact on the press corps. Like, why didn't we hear some of these details from what they actually saw?
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
Dealing with trying to get information.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
The people that we're naming would be Mike Donilon, Steve Reschetti. Mike Donilon is his top political advisor. Steve Reschetti is his top legislative advisor. Ron Klain, when he was chief of staff. Bruce Reed, his basically longtime policy advisor. Those are sort of the four. They were known as Politburo, Gray Hairs, Poobahs, and they were with him the most of anybody.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
Now, if you were to ask them, and I still think even if you put them on truth serum today, they would say he was fine. Then there's this other sort of group that aren't the Politburo but are just as powerful. And they were the ones that kept the schedule, affected personnel, and really built the bubble.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
And that would be Annie Tomasini, who was deputy chief of staff and previously Oval Office Operations. And then Anthony Bernal, who was the top aide slash enforcer for First Lady Jill Biden and had incredible influence to the point that even people in the Biden White House would refer to her as one of the most powerful first ladies in history.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Staff Discussed Wheelchair, DNC vs. David Hogg, Cassie Testifies in Diddy Case: AM Update 5/14
Well, Alex Thompson and I were on the case, as were lots of other reporters, trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. But the bottom line is the White House was lying, not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to members of their own cabinet. They were lying to White House staffers.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Staff Discussed Wheelchair, DNC vs. David Hogg, Cassie Testifies in Diddy Case: AM Update 5/14
They were lying to Democratic members of Congress, to donors about how bad things had gotten. And then after the election, we found out all of these things later. that when you looked at what was going on with President Biden at the time, it probably doesn't surprise you the extent to which he was deteriorating.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Staff Discussed Wheelchair, DNC vs. David Hogg, Cassie Testifies in Diddy Case: AM Update 5/14
But now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes with details that Democrats wouldn't share with us until after Election Day.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Staff Discussed Wheelchair, DNC vs. David Hogg, Cassie Testifies in Diddy Case: AM Update 5/14
But now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
Watch him, right? Watch him. And he... They are watching him. That's what I'm saying.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
Think anybody sitting down for an interview like that where you're being asked specific dates over and over again. You're not going to remember every single one.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
I'm sure it offends you. You don't have any standing to say... I'm not diagnosing him.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
Well, Alex Thompson and I were on the case, as were lots of other reporters, trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. But the bottom line is the White House was lying, not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to members of their own cabinet. They were lying to White House staffers.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
They were lying to Democratic members of Congress, to donors about how bad things had gotten. And in fact, Alex and I started writing this book, after the election of 2024. And we spoke with more than 200 people, most of whom, almost all of whom were Democrats, and almost all of whom wouldn't be honest with us or wouldn't be candid with us until after the election.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
And then after the election, we found out all of these things that when you looked at what was going on with President Biden, At the time, it probably doesn't surprise you the extent to which he was deteriorating. But now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes with details that Democrats wouldn't share with us until after Election Day.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
Will you pledge that if you're elected, you will be transparent about your health, all facets of your health, with urgency so that we know? Yes. One poll shows that almost two-thirds of Democratic voters want a new nominee in 2024. and the top reason they gave was your age. You know, that's not a good number for President Biden.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
Two-thirds of the American people say he's not sharp enough to be president. Yeah, I mean, how can you use the bully pulpit when you don't have a bully you can put in the pulpit? Okay, so you're part of the 23% of adults who are not concerned about the president's ability to be president because of his age and stamina.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
I mean, I know incumbents in general are not popular right now, but do you ever think, maybe we should have a new candidate? There's a little bit of denialism with the president.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
This is a particularly bad week for this report and its comments about President Biden's faculties and his memory to come out because twice this week, he has acted as if he in 2021 spoke to European leaders who have been dead for years. Part of the job of president is having the confidence of the American people in your faculties.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
The White House's response every single time it has come up for three and a half years has been to deflect, to gaslight, to not tell the truth, not just to reporters, not just to other Democrats, but even at times to themselves.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
Happy birthday ahead of time. Whenever anyone raises concerns about your age, the oldest president in the history of the United States, you always say, watch me. Voters have been watching you. Democratic voters approve of the job you're doing. Democratic voters overwhelmingly like you. But one poll shows that almost two thirds of Democratic voters want a new nominee in 2024.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
And the top reason they gave was your age. So what's your message to Democrats who like you, who like what you've done, but are concerned about your age and the demands of the job?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
That's what I'm saying. That's 77 percent who are concerned.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
So this memory issue is already out there.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
This is so amazing.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
Yeah, I think you were mocking his stutter. And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline. I would think that somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses. diagnosing politicians from afar. Plenty of people have diagnosed your father from afar, and I'm sure it offends you, your father-in-law from afar.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Media's Sad and Smug Celebration, Gaslighting on Immigration, and Bizarre Belichick Interview, with Emily Jashinsky and Eliana Johnson | Ep. 1059
President Biden's decline. and its cover up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception. But being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Media's Sad and Smug Celebration, Gaslighting on Immigration, and Bizarre Belichick Interview, with Emily Jashinsky and Eliana Johnson | Ep. 1059
I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust and being defensive about them further erodes it.
The Megyn Kelly Show
New Details About Cause of Helicopter-Plane Crash, Trump and Zelensky Face-To-Face: AM Update 4/28
President Biden's decline and its cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception. But being truth-tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows.
The Megyn Kelly Show
New Details About Cause of Helicopter-Plane Crash, Trump and Zelensky Face-To-Face: AM Update 4/28
I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust and being defensive about them further erodes it. We should have done better.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
We get in a little bit to the Biden family lore and the way they look at the world, but there's a lot of not wanting to acknowledge realities.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Well, he was the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Delaware hiding the fact that he was debilitated.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And one of the most important parts of understanding Joe Biden is understanding his refusal to accept defeat. And it's, look, it's one of the things that we love about politicians or any sort of public figure. He gets knocked down, he gets back up again. And that's part of the ethos of Joe Biden, right? In this case, he didn't have that.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
The midterms went better than expected, better than they had for Clinton or Obama in their first terms. Now, I think that a lot of the reason for that was despite Joe Biden, not because of Joe Biden. It was because of and this is according to his own pollsters and people close to him.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
He did better than everyone thought in the midterms because there was a very engaged Democratic electorate because of the overturning of Roe v. Wade that year. And because Trump had gotten involved in a lot of primaries and backed not the best candidate for the general election, whether Blake Masters in Arizona or Herschel Walker in Georgia. But regardless, yeah, the midterms weren't as bad.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And imagine thinking, A, Joe Biden... The Joe Biden we all saw in The View or the BBC interview is capable of being president until January 2029. That's because that's what they think, the Biden first couple and Reschetti and Donilon. That's what they think. And also imagine thinking that the best prebuttal to our book, which quotes extensively the Pre-buttled?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Extensively quotes Democrats describing what they saw behind the scenes and how much it upset them, that the best way to pre-butt our book is to put him out there. Imagine thinking that. I mean, you know, this isn't an episode of The Twilight Zone where all of a sudden he swims in a pool and emerges with the energy of a 12-year-old. Like, he is still 82 and looks and sounds every day of it.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
So as you note, he's not just a movie star. He is a Democrat, a very proud Democrat, and has been involved in some of the biggest fundraisers ever, including in the spring of 2024 at Radio City Music Hall, and then... I think that raised $27 million. Katzenberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg was running the fundraiser. And then he wanted another, Katzenberg wanted another fundraiser.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
This one would raise $30 million, which would be the most money ever raised for a Democratic presidential candidate. And Clooney said, sure, tell me where to go. So it's June and Clooney has shown up. He was in Italy filming a movie. He and Julia Roberts are co-hosting this thing. So he's there and he sees Obama walk in and there's Obama, same old Obama. He loves Obama.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
A little grayer, but, you know, same guy. And then Biden walks in and he's shocked. He hasn't seen Biden since December 2022 before he got a Kennedy Center honor, George Clooney. He sees him. He can't believe how slow he's walking, how much he's shuffling. And then Biden walks over and he's saying, hey, how you doing? Thanks for coming. Hey, how you doing?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Thanks for coming for everybody who's there. And he says, comes over to Clooney and says, hey, how you doing? Thanks for being here. And his aide, Biden's aide says, you know, George. And he's like, yeah, sure. Of course. How you doing? And it becomes very apparent to everyone there that President Biden does not recognize George Clooney.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And then the aide has to say, George Clooney, like underlying who this person is, one of the most recognizable faces in the world, the guy who was hosting the fundraiser for you, the guy that you gave a Kennedy Center honor to, the guy you've known for 20 years. And then he's like, sure. Hey, how you doing?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And he wasn't the only one, Clooney and those in that circle who saw something that upset them. Barack Obama saw something. Biden not at his best, where he had to jump in a couple times in these private meetings behind the scenes. And they all just kind of like convinced themselves, look, he's Biden's had a rough travel schedule.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
He was in France. Then he was in Delaware for Hunter's trial. Then he's back to Italy for the G7.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
No, he has Air Force One with a bedroom. Although one of his top aides says to me, like, there's a big difference between Joe Biden getting seven hours and Joe Biden getting eight hours of sleep, which is. OK, that's interesting.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
It's not a defense. Right. So in any case, Clooney kind of just like goes back to movie world and files it away. It's like, OK, he's old and I guess, you know, he didn't get any sleep and it's been a crazy schedule. But then what happens at the debate? And then Clooney's like, this is what I saw.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
So I will say, having watched it on TV, in addition to having watched it in person, it was worse in person. And it's pretty bad on TV. He shuffles out, seems really old. He starts talking. He's obviously got a cold. His voice is already thin and reedy before the cold. So he seems really, really old. I remember thinking like when it started, when he clearly was not, you know, primed and ready.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Why did they agree to do this at nine o'clock at night? Having kept Alex's reporting in the back of my mind about how he doesn't, you know, he's sometimes 4.30, that's the end of the workday for him. Why would they do this at nine o'clock at night? And then he gives the first horrible answer, which comes like in the first five or 10 minutes, the one where he says, we beat Medicare.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Because he's having trouble. It's not just we've all had colds and we've all forgotten names and we've all forgotten names. But this was a man who could not put thoughts together and who could not explain basics of his policy. I'm not a doctor. I can't diagnose what it was. But this was somebody who was not able to communicate like he himself was able to communicate even four years ago.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And I was shocked. We had iPads. Dana bashed my co-moderator and I so we could communicate with the control room because we can't talk. And I wrote... Holy smokes. Because I didn't know who was in the control room. I thought maybe, you know.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Well, I would have said something else. But, you know, I thought maybe Zaslav was there. I didn't want to offend anybody. But like, I was stunned. And then his answers were really bad. And even his best answers were barely serviceable. And it almost didn't even matter. I mean, Trump was Trump, you know, full of...
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
bombast and false claims and, but he was disciplined, you know, say what you will about Donald Trump. The only thing he said about what I think empirically is the very worst debate performance in the history of televised debate since 1960. The only thing Trump said was, I don't understand what he just said there. And I don't think he does either.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
I don't know if it was humanity as much as when your opponent's blown himself up to get out of the way.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
I think a lot of us have covered Joe Biden's aging and the accompanying inabilities to do things the way he used to do throughout his presidency. But what we uncovered after the election was over, when all the people that we had been talking to for months and years...
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
There is a degree to which Kamala was insurance for Biden. I don't think it was consciously so, but they would... If anybody ever said anything in internal discussions, not to Biden himself, but in internal discussions about should he run, et cetera, the answer was always, if it's not him, it's going to be Kamala Harris. You think she can win? You think she can be president? And that's a...
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
No, she's less popular than him, which she was until she became the nominee, and less capable.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Well, there are a lot of reasons for that. One of the reasons was – When Biden called Harris on July 21st to tell her that he was dropping out and she was supportive, you know, don't let them chase you out, Joe. And he said, no, I think I've got to do this. It's what's best. You know, are you ready for a kid? And she wanted to do it.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
They sent over the note that he was going to put on social media. Doesn't mention her. She says, you know, you don't mention me in here.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Yeah. And he says, well, I was going to endorse you in an Oval Office address later in the week. So this is Sunday. He was talking about doing this Wednesday or Thursday. And she said that that would be interpreted as weakness. And so the Donnellans and Reschettis and Bidens talked about it and then came back and said, you know what we're going to do? We're going to put out this note.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And then like 15, 20 minutes later, we're going to put out the note endorsing. And so they did do that. Harris had made calls and was ready to go. Um, she decided she wanted to call, in addition to, obviously, the Clintons and the Obamas, and the Democratic leadership, she wanted to call any possible rival, anybody who might throw their hand into the ring.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And the first person she called, because the one they were the most concerned about, or maybe the one they thought was the most eager or ambitious, was Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania. They called him, but he's on board immediately. And then they call around. The only two of the prospective Democratic...
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
possibilities who don't endorse her that day are Gretchen Whitmer, who is kind of like taken aback by all of it, And J.B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. Pritzker kind of calls around that day, is anybody going to run? I think if anybody else had run, maybe Pritzker would have run.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
But he certainly was not going to be the only one running against the incumbent vice president, the first ever black woman vice president in history. So by the next day, it was a done deal. Whitmer and Pritzker were on board. Obama announced that he was on board, and that was that.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And all of the people who had been saying, he's fine, he's fine, he's fine, he's fine, were suddenly willing to talk about what had been going on. But it was only after the election that we were able to get the inside point of view.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
They still hate her though, the Bidens.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And the other thing from the Obama perspective is that, one, he feels like what he says to Joe Biden isn't heard because, and he's used these words, Joe's still pissed at me about Hillary. He knows. Biden will not listen to him. There was this kind of mythology that some people posited on MSNBC that Obama had gotten George Clooney to write that op-ed, which is not true.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Before that, the only insider point of view we really got was from the Her report, when the special counsel said what he saw behind closed doors, sitting down with Biden for an extended period of time.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
George wrote it on his own. But beyond that, Obama told him not to publish it, that it was just going to get Biden's backup. So there is a degree to which, A, he thinks like this guy just doesn't listen to me at all. The best thing I can do is just be here and say.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
No. He checked in on him in 2023 and just tried to reaffirm to Biden how much tougher this was going to be and how tough Trump was going to be. Thought Biden was Biden. Thought Biden was old. Thought Biden was, you know, who he is. But that's the degree to that, that he said anything. He would talk to Schumer. He would talk to Pelosi. He would talk to Hakeem Jeffries. And he would guide them
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
There was the polling became very important to the crowd that was trying to the real top crowd trying to get Biden out of the race. Pelosi, Jeffries, Schumer.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
I think what did it are two things. One, Schumer telling Biden about the meeting that the Democratic senators had with the Politburo, with these top aides, in which a lot of people expressed concerns. And ultimately, at the end, John Fetterman, who was a Biden supporter, a dead ender, says, who's with me?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And there were maybe five Democratic senators out of a 51 senator caucus that were with Biden. Schumer told that to Biden and Biden did not know that because Donilon had not told him and Reschetti had not told him. And then the second thing was Mignon Moore, who set up the Democratic National Committee, longtime respected Democratic operative,
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
She had, when she took the job to run the DNC, started this ad hoc committee called the What-If Committee. And that was just to prepare for anything. And one of the things the What-If Committee did was keep track of the delegates, especially after the debate. And the What-If Committee conveyed to Reschetti and Donilon
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Biden can still win the nomination at the convention, but it will be tight and it will be ugly. And I think that those two things, your senators have abandoned you because he thought Biden always thought of himself as a creature of the Senate and you can win, but it's going to be a very hideous victory. I think that just convinced him.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Plus, by the way, he made this decision while he was really sick with COVID, which could not have encouraged him that he was up to this over the next few weeks.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Before that, it was all a lot of, he's fine, he's fine, he's fine. But now, Alex and I have spoke with more than 200 people after the election, and unencumbered by their fears of, if I say this, then Joe Biden won't get elected or Kamala Harris won't get elected. they were much more candid.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Look, I'm 56. I am not capable of doing things that I could do when I was 35. And I don't just mean, you know, running up and down a basketball court. Like I'm not as cognitively sharp now. Am I wiser? Sure. So I get that argument. But at a certain point, when I have aged past my cell date, CNN will show me the door or whoever I'm working for at the time.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
But the presidency and politics in general is the only world in which there is no one, no boss to do that. It is the voters. It's up to the voters and the voters can be snookered in an era of tribalism. They can be told it doesn't matter if so-and-so is a kumquat. All that matters is that he's not the other guy.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And so we are not only in a gerontocracy, we're in a gerontocracy where tribalism makes it easier to do. I mean, it's still amazing to me that after everything that happened with Biden, Kay Granger, who was the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, somehow managed to quietly step down from leadership and then just check herself into a home for dementia.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
while still drawing a congressional salary as if she was showing up to work every day. And Republicans in Congress, some of them knew about it, and they would just say, oh, it's so sad, it's so sad. Yes, it's very sad. But also, why is she drawing a congressional salary?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And look, it's very important that folks were noting that, you know, he tripped on stage at a graduation at the Air Force Academy. But comparing that to him not being able to conjure forth the name of George Clooney or recognize George Clooney, somebody he'd known for decades and somebody throwing him the most lucrative fundraiser in the history of the Democratic Party.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Those are two different things. Noting that he, you know, mistakenly thought that in 2021, he'd had a conversation with Francois Mitterrand as opposed to Emmanuel Macron. We all saw that and we noted it and we talked about it. But that compared to him not knowing the name of one of his top advisors in December 2022, There's a difference.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And what we found by writing this book was that everything that we saw was going on in front of the camera. It was much worse behind the scenes.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
There's also, um, a couple other things to unpack with that. One is that the issues that animated Joe Biden the most in his presidency were national security issues, was NATO, was the Middle East, was Ukraine, Russia. And so I don't doubt that he was most engaged and also that those meetings when they scheduled them were in peak performance time, noon, one o'clock.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
But the other thing that Blinken says... Hang on, Jake.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Not a couple, but 10 to 4 is what Alex's reporting was in 2023. And that, I think, is even generous because he was not in the Oval Office every day from 10 until 4.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
And you hear this argument a lot from not just the Politburo, which is what some of the administration came to calling Tom Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, the two top aides, and not just the first family's eyes and ears, Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini. But what... Others would say, oh, his decision-making was always fine. His decision-making was always fine. Okay.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
The job of the president is not just decision-making.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
One top aide said to us, the job is making hard decisions and communicating them to the American people. And this aide said, he was always able to do number one. Number two was a struggle, and it got worse throughout his presidency. But number two is... So much. Yes, you want the person to be able to make good decisions, but you also they need to persuade. They need to cajole.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
They need to be able to the American people need to have faith in this person. Our Western leaders need to have faith in this person. And he lost a lot of that.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Yeah. And if it hadn't been for COVID, who knows if that would have even worked in 2020. I mean, COVID, as one aide told us, was a huge tragedy and disaster for the American people, but a gift to Biden in 2020 because it enabled him to basically have a very inactive campaign schedule that was largely dependent on him doing Zooms.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
No. No. And in fact, so in October 2023 is the last cabinet meeting, I think, until September 2024. And that period begins what one cabinet secretary of several we spoke with described as the weird period. where they were kept at bay. They didn't get a chance to interact with the president. There were exceptions to this, Blinken, the Secretary of State, and Austin, the Secretary of Defense.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
But for the most part, a lot of these secretaries were just completely kept at arm's length. And one of them said that during that period, spring of 2024, the secretary did have a meeting with Biden, and he was mumbly, and incoherent and difficult to understand. And this person left the cabinet, that meeting, this cabinet secretary left that meeting upset and disturbed. But no one came forward.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
When they would complain internally, they were told he's fine, be quiet. And this is a real large, this is a larger topic for
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
what we all need to reckon with when it comes to the American presidency today and the degree to which one person is bestowed with so much power and surrounded by individuals whose own power depends on that person maintaining power regardless of whether or not it's good for the White House, the party, or the country. But that power and the fear of what happens.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Look at Robert Herr came forward, did his job. He wasn't able to get a job for months. Dean Phillips came forward, said, Joe Biden should be challenged in the primaries. He's not up to this. He was essentially defenestrated. I mean, there was a real price to coming forward.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
A lot of the tools that may have started out innocently enough for Joe Biden, every White House, indeed any successful person, is surrounded by people to help make them look as good as possible. Right. So a lot of those tools, note cards and teleprompter, et cetera, that were put there innocently enough for a 79-year-old president at the beginning of his term,
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
became crutches, and ultimately tools of the cover-up by the end. Because if you are a president, if you're 81 years old, and you're not able to go into a room full of donors and speak extemporaneously for 10 minutes, then there's something wrong. And that was happening in 2023. And Bill Daley, former Obama chief of staff, he went to one of those and he was distressed.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
He tried to get other Democrats to run in the primary against Joe Biden. He reached out to Pritzker. He reached out to Newsom or Beshear. And nobody would do it. It's a fool's errand to take on an incumbent president in a primary, generally speaking. But... People saw this and they were disturbed. So, again, some things might start off like, look, we're just trying to help the president.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
He wants a teleprompter. No big deal. All of a sudden, he can't answer questions at a fundraiser in 2023.