Biden White House Archived / Flickr
A recent article published by The Free Press reported that some of the highest-ranking figures in American politics and media deliberately concealed former president Joe Biden’s cognitive decline from the public — a strategy that may rank among the greatest political scandals of the century.
Drawing from Original Sin, the forthcoming book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, journalist Oliver Wiseman presented a sobering account of a presidency sustained by image control, as White House insiders, Democratic elites, and legacy media outlets worked to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline from a public that had already begun to notice.
By the fall of 2023, Wiseman noted, three-quarters of Americans — including a majority of Democrats — were worried about Biden’s age and cognitive health. And yet, instead of taking that concern seriously, top advisers doubled down on what Wiseman called “an elaborate play.”
From scripted cabinet meetings to choreographed appearances assisted by Hollywood insiders, the Biden administration reportedly built a facade of vigor — one that many insiders now admit they knew was false.
Among the most troubling claims in Original Sin is that Biden was often isolated, even from his own cabinet, according to Wiseman. Some aides reportedly shielded him from meetings entirely, crafting an image that could be managed from behind the scenes. Staffers dubbed the president’s inner circle “The Politburo,” a name that hints at the centralized, opaque governance style the authors describe.
“Five people were running the country,” one official told the authors. “And Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.”
What drove this deception? Wiseman points to the looming “specter” of Donald Trump as a key factor. The fear of another Trump presidency, he explains, paralyzed the Democratic Party and fueled the insistence that Biden — despite his evident decline — must remain their nominee.
“Time and again,” Wiseman wrote, “Trump was invoked as the justification for quashing dissent, rewriting the primary rules, or silencing inconvenient voices.”
Wiseman emphasized that this wasn’t simply a political miscalculation. It was a moral failure — one that cut across institutional boundaries. While some Democratic leaders now admit that the deception backfired politically, few seem remorseful about the deception itself.
“For far too many,” Wiseman wrote, “the biggest problem with the Weekend at Bernie’s ruse was simply that they hadn’t gotten away with it.”
As Biden has now been diagnosed with prostate cancer and stepped away from public office, Wiseman warned against letting the moment pass without reflection. The scandal, he argued, remains unresolved. Key questions about the president’s actual medical condition and who was making decisions in his name still demand answers.
“Democrats would clearly rather be talking about something else,” Wiseman wrote. “But changing the subject would be a mistake. A reckoning over this embarrassing scandal is overdue and necessary.”
