Joe Biden’s former White House chief of staff Ron Klein, who reportedly said he believed the former president was “out of it” ahead of his disastrous presidential debate with rival Donald Trump, is being criticized for not disclosing this information during the campaign.
According to a new book, Klain, who returned to Biden’s side to help prepare for June 2024’s debate, found the president to be “fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged” and questioned whether the Democratic nominee believed he was in charge of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In an account shared with reporter Chris Whipple, Klain discusses the Camp David debate preparation, contributing to the concerning narrative about Biden’s cognitive and physical decline prior to the crucial confrontation with Trump. This led the then-81-year-old Biden to withdraw his candidacy and pass the leadership to Vice President Kamala Harris.
The book is titled “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History” and is set to be released next week.
According to excerpts reported by The Guardian, Klain remarked that he had “never seen [Biden] so exhausted and out of it” during their meeting at the president’s cabin.
Reacting to these remarks, many commentators pointed out on social media that Klain had previously insisted Biden was up to the job.
"Embarrassing. Ron Klain, former White House Chief of Staff, on Biden last August: 'He’s clearly up to the job. He’s doing it every day. He’s doing it successfully.' Klain in new book: Biden 'didn’t know what Trump had been saying and couldn’t grasp what the back and forth was,'" Michael Powell, a staff writer at the Atlantic, wrote on X.
Rotimi Adeoye, an MSNBC contributor wrote, "So if Ron Klain is now saying Biden was losing his mental faculties, why didn't he speak publicly earlier and say that Biden has to step aside if they thought Trump was a "fascist.""
Scott Atlas, who served as an advisor in the first Trump administration, called it "the most dangerous coverup."
"Curious why the most dangerous coverup in our lifetimes - a mentally incapacitated President, fully known by his Veep, his staff, and his Congress -- is not met with impeachments, criminal investigation, and punishment?" he wrote on X.