Joe Biden’s inner circle noticed the signs of his aging, and worked tirelessly to manage his challenges and fend off the perception that he had declined, according to a new report.
The president was protected by six key people, all of whom thought that he could and should lead the country for a second term, The New York Times reported on Friday, based on dozens of interviews with Biden world insiders.
Two of the six were Biden’s own family members—his wife Jill Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who both strongly believed he could beat Donald Trump.
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The other four were top advisers.
Longtime strategist Mike Donilon and counselor Steve Ricchetti handled the delivery of information to the president, at times delaying the sharing of bad polling numbers with him.
Meanwhile, Annie Tomasini, Biden’s deputy chief of staff, and Anthony Bernal, the first lady’s top aide, kept a tight rein on the president’s schedule.
Collectively, the goal was to convince America that Biden was fit for another term, even as his signs of age showed both publicly and privately, according to the Times.
Three unnamed aides interviewed by the paper said they overheard Donilon tell Biden in mid-2022, “Your biggest issue is the perception of age.”
Those close to Biden had observed that he spoke more slowly than he had just a few years before, and struggled to lift himself out of the presidential limousine, the Times reported. Some thought he seemed, at times, disoriented or in a fog.
The effort to work around Biden’s decline was a tightly coordinated affair, based on the report.
Aides had Biden use a teleprompter all the time—even for small fundraisers in donors' homes. They also shortened the steps the president used to board Air Force One.
At the same time, Biden’s team scolded reporters for coverage of the president’s age-related challenges, and convinced allies to write articles and social media posts pushing back on the negative press.
All the while, Biden’s own pride fueled a mission to prove his vitality.
Sometimes his efforts backfired. For instance, after breaking his foot shortly before his inauguration, Biden declined to wear an orthopedic boot, fearing it would make him look weak. The Times reported that the injury, which never healed correctly, caused a shuffling gait that persisted throughout his presidency.
Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the Times’ report.
Biden only dropped out of the race for the presidency in July, after a disastrous debate performance against Trump. In the wake of Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump in November, many observers suggested that the outcome might have been different had Biden stepped aside sooner.
In an interview with USA Today earlier this month, Biden maintained that he could have beaten Trump, even as he acknowledged that his age was an issue.
“It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes,” he said.
