Amid discussion of Joe Biden’s decline ahead of the release of the book “Original Sin” and now after, the prominent Democrats who have been asked what they knew about the former president’s condition and when have denied they noticed anything was wrong.
A popular talking point among them has been to suggest that they weren’t around Biden a whole lot anyway to give off the impression they might not be the person to ask such questions, even though some Democrats who had such responses, like powerful Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), were some of Biden’s closest allies and friends on Capitol Hill.
“I’ve never worked in the White House, so I was not around Joe Biden enough to tell you anything about his decline,” Clyburn, who is credited with turning Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign around, told CNN in an April interview. “I saw no more in his declination than I’ve seen in anybody else’s. I’m two years older than Joe Biden. I just have a different style than he has. And so, people all age differently.”
Interestingly, of the people who were either named in the book or by the authors in interviews as knowing more – such as the so-called “Politburo” members (Ron Klain, Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, Bruce Reed, and others) – none of them have said a word in response, no confirmations but no denials, either.
But one Democrat is speaking out, angrily denouncing something in the book about Biden allegedly forgetting his name at a 2023 gathering, saying it’s not true: