Aides discussed Biden possibly using wheelchair if he was reelected, new book says – USA Today

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct an inaccuracy.
If former President Joe Biden was elected for a second term, he may have been spending some of that time governing with the assistance of a wheelchair, according to reporting in a new book by two leading political journalists.
Biden’s physical deterioration was so severe in the second half of his presidency that aides privately talked about the possibility of a wheelchair, according to an excerpt of a new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s personal physician, privately warned aides that a wheelchair might have been necessary if Biden had suffered a bad fall in 2023 or 2024, according to excerpts confirmed by Penguin Books and first reported by Axios and CNN.
The book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” is due out on May 20. Author Alex Thompson is a national political correspondent for Axios, and Jake Tapper is a chief Washington correspondent for CNN.
The president’s age loomed large over the 2024 presidential race, ranking as a concern among voters and oftentimes used as a point of criticism by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and other Republican hopefuls. A stumbling first debate performance by Biden on June 27 sparked an avalanche of critiques, conjectures and late-night talk show jokes, along with deeper conversations over advanced age in public office. He formally dropped out of the race July 21, 2024.
Biden was 81 during his run, with Trump just three years younger, at 78 years old.
In the months since the November 2024 election, questions over the impact of his age and perceived physical deterioration have not gone away, as the Democratic Party continues its retrospection of the defeat. Biden himself addressed the topic in an interview on May 8 on “The View,” rebuffing criticism of staying in the race through much of 2024 and saying concerns over his age “took on a life of its own” among Democratic donors and leadership.
“The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party,” Biden said.
The book is based on interviews with more than 200 people, Axios reports, described as “Democratic insiders, with knowledge of the events that unfolded during the final two years of Biden’s presidency.”
In response to the book’s reporting, a Biden spokesperson said in a statement to Axios that Biden’s “medical exam made clear that he had a stiffened gait caused, in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened.”
“He was transparent about this, and it was far from ‘severe,’” the statement said, according to Axios. “Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.”
“And so far,” the statement continued, “we are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.”
USA TODAY has reached out to the book’s publisher, Penguin House Publishing, for comment.
Kathryn Palmer is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her atkapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.