Hillary Clinton Privately Warned Biden Couldn’t Beat ‘Age Issue’ in 2023: Report

(Gerald Herbert via AP) (Jacquelyn Martin via AP)

Hillary Clinton privately voiced serious doubts early on about former President Joe Biden’s ability to beat the “age issue” as a 2024 candidate, long before his eventual withdrawal from the campaign trail, according to testimony from his former chief of staff Ron Klain.

Speaking to House Oversight Committee staffers as part of the Republican-led probe into Biden’s mental fitness, Klain said Clinton confided in him in 2023 that “the campaign was not succeeding in dealing with the age issue,” a source familiar with the conversation told CNN. Biden announced his intention to run in April 2023.

Clinton’s spokesman did not dispute the account.

Klain, who served as Biden’s chief of staff during the president’s first two years in office, also recalled a separate conversation following Biden’s widely panned CNN debate performance in June 2024. He testified that then-National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told him Biden “was losing support.”

Sullivan’s spokesperson denied that any such conversation took place before the debate.

The disclosures provide a rare window into high-level Democratic concern about Biden’s electability as anxieties reportedly swirled behind closed doors, even as public-facing loyalty held firm. Biden would go on to drop out of the race weeks later, paving the way for Kamala Harris to assume the Democratic nomination. Clinton quickly endorsed Harris after Biden stepped aside.

Though Klain reportedly defended Biden’s cognitive capacity overall, he said the president had become “less energetic and more forgetful,” often mixing up names and appearing tired in private. He said Biden was visibly unwell before the debate that ultimately torpedoed his candidacy.