Joe Biden’s delayed withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race devastated the Democratic campaign, a former top aide to Kamala Harris has claimed in a new book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.
David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager and former White House adviser, who returned to assist Harris’s post-Biden campaign, called her 107-day sprint against Donald Trump “a f*cking nightmare.” Plouffe laid blame squarely on Biden, saying: “He totally f*cked us.”
The book, authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, draws on interviews with nearly 200 insiders, including members of Congress and campaign staff. It details the internal panic and denial surrounding Biden’s cognitive decline—issues that some aides say became more pronounced as early as 2022.
One senior official who resigned over Biden’s decision to seek re-election told the authors: “We attempted to shield him from his own staff so many people didn’t realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023.” While affirming Biden’s decency, the aide said allowing him to run again was “a disservice to the country and to the party.”
The book also reveals that influential Democrats, including Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, privately urged Biden to reconsider. Schumer reportedly warned him: “If you lose, 50 years of beautiful work goes out the window.” Biden allegedly replied, “You have bigger balls than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Efforts to mask Biden’s deterioration reportedly included filming him with multiple cameras to conceal mistakes. High-profile donors like Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel pressured Biden’s inner circle to develop a “Plan B,” but none existed.
Biden, 82, ultimately stepped aside on July 21 and endorsed Kamala Harris. But according to Original Sin, the damage was done. His late exit, the book concludes, helped pave the way for Donald Trump’s return to the White House—a result Biden had most wanted to prevent.
