Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson Reveal Who Was Running the Country During Biden’s Decline

The authors of a controversial new book about Joe Biden’s mental decline as he stumped for a second term in office have revealed who they believe was running the country as the then-president struggled.

Axios reporter Alex Thompson, appearing alongside CNN host Jake Tapper, gave the answer during an appearance on Morning Joe Wednesday morning to promote their book, Original Sin.

“By the end of 2023, I think it becomes clear that there is a bigger issue than just him struggling in ways beyond a normal principal, and that there’s actually a decline and in his ability to do the job,” said Thompson. “And I think there is a point when loyalty — there’s always a tension between loyal to the principle and loyalty to the larger institution — and I think it was at that point that there was that tension. And I think they chose loyalty to the principal.”

“And who is they?” host Joe Scarborough asked. “Who is the who in this conspiracy, the inner circle?”

“The people in charge were [top Biden advisers] Mike Donilon, Steve Riccheti, Bruce Reed, Anthony Bernal, the first lady’s chief of staff, the first lady, and Annie Tomasini,” Thompson responded. “Those are the people that saw him the most and that had the most control over what he was doing and his day-to-day.”

“I think everybody would agree that we all saw him aging in 2019, 2020,” Tapper later added before bringing up the previous revelation from the book that Biden didn’t appear to recognize George Clooney at a June 2024 fundraiser, a month before Clooney penned a scathing op-ed in The New York Times that urged Democrats to pick a new nominee.

Watch above via MSNBC.