CNN anchor Jake Tapper is co-authoring a book with Axios correspondent Alex Thompson detailing the “cover-up” of former President Joe Biden’s “serious decline,” CNN reported on Wednesday.
The book, titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” pins the blame on Biden and his family for being “part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents,” according to the book’s publisher, Penguin Press. Tapper co-hosted Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate against Donald Trump, which eventually led to Biden’s exit from the presidential race, while Thompson reported on the debate fallout and the White House’s attempts to keep Biden in the 2024 contest.
“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, adding that 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.”
ORIGINAL SIN, now available for pre-order at https://t.co/a9TcEIjAnV from @Penguinpress. Been working hard on this with @AlexThomp, from interviews with more than 200 WH insiders, Dem leaders, and more. #OriginalSinBook pic.twitter.com/e7hd4bqNHM
— Jake Tapper ???? (@jaketapper) February 26, 2025
In the book, Tapper and Thompson examine what they call Biden’s “original sin” — his decision to run for a second term at 81 years old. “Original Sin” will be released on May 20.
The book announcement was blasted by conservatives on social media, who argued that Tapper and Thompson were part of the legacy media’s cover-up of Biden’s mental decline. Before Biden’s catastrophic debate performance against Trump, both Tapper and Thompson criticized conservatives for pointing out clear signs that the former president’s mental capabilities were going downhill.
During the 2020 campaign, Tapper came to Biden’s defense multiple times when Republicans criticized him for struggling during his campaign speeches. In January 2020, Tapper reposted a clip of Lara Trump saying she felt “kind of sad for Biden” for struggling to “get the words out.” Tapper commented on Trump’s remarks on social media, writing, “Whatever you think of @JoeBiden and his politics, worth reading this remarkable piece about his stutter,” and linking to an Atlantic article that argued that voters should “be more understanding” of Biden’s gaffes because “he’s still fighting a stutter.”
In June 2023, Thompson wrote a piece for Axios on “Biden’s weird words” and defended the former president’s “unique phrases” from Republican attacks.
“Biden’s quirky aphorisms are sometimes weaponized by Republicans to insinuate the 80-year-old president is in mental decline,” Thompson wrote. “But Biden has been using unique phrases for years — but even some of his aides aren’t exactly sure what he means by them.” Thompson added, “There are legitimate questions about Biden’s age and stamina as he runs for a second term — but his off-beat proverbs are just Biden being Biden.”