By It turns out that it wasn’t just “cheap fakes.”
In Original Sin, a forthcoming chronicle of Democratic missteps by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, a quietly devastating episode emerges from behind the velvet curtain of a star-studded June 2024 fundraiser in Los Angeles. President Joe Biden—already under scrutiny for his age—allegedly failed to recognize longtime friend George Clooney without repeated prodding from aides. According to the book, excerpts of which appear in The New Yorker, the moment left Clooney “shaken” and convinced that the Biden of 2024 was not the man he’d known for decades.
Clooney had been more than a celebrity supporter—he was a friend, a confidant, and a reliable political ally. So when Biden reportedly stared blankly at him, requiring an aide to say, twice, “You know George… George Clooney,” before offering a delayed, “Oh, yeah! Hi, George!” the effect wasn’t just awkward—it was shattering. “It was like watching someone who was not alive,” one Hollywood donor is quoted as saying. Other attendees described the president’s demeanor as “slow” and “catatonic.” Behind the glamor, concern turned to panic, according to Axios.
The encounter marked a quiet turning point—especially for Clooney, who would later break ranks in a now-infamous July 2024 op-ed calling on Biden to exit the race, though not until after the debate. “The Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe Biden of 2010,” he wrote. The moment helped crystallize growing unease within the party’s donor class and among top strategists, many of whom had already been whispering concerns about the president’s condition.
The other obvious point here is, why didn't Clooney speak up?
He could have written that OpEd before the debate. They didn't. https://t.co/Us9elgxolN
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 13, 2025
Drawing on more than 200 interviews—many conducted after the election—the book documents a pattern of physical and cognitive decline that the White House tried, with increasing difficulty, to manage, Axios explained in a separate article. Chief among the president’s ailments was a worsening case of spinal arthritis, which caused his now-familiar halting gait. Privately, aides feared that a wheelchair might be necessary during a second term, though they understood it would be politically fatal to introduce one on the campaign trail.
To mitigate the optics, Biden’s team shortened walking routes, installed handrails, and replaced dress shoes with sneakers. After his public fall at the Air Force Academy in June 2023, such efforts became more urgent—and more desperate. His personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, reportedly clashed with senior staff over the president’s grueling schedule, urging more rest and warning of the presidency’s mounting toll. While the White House maintained that a 2020 foot fracture was the root of Biden’s mobility issues, O’Connor’s internal assessments consistently cited “significant spinal arthritis” as the primary cause.
Despite these warnings, the campaign pressed ahead, with none other than media members like Jake Tapper criticizing those who pointed out Biden had no business being president, including a meltdown during an interview with Lara Trump on CNN.
Roll tape pic.twitter.com/GYu1LqlTo7 https://t.co/804kJhAGeJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 13, 2025
Only Biden’s poor debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024 ignited a full-scale panic inside the Democratic Party and the media. Clooney’s defection, followed by rising calls from party elders and funders, helped force the president’s hand. Within weeks, Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Kamala Harris, bringing a turbulent chapter of party politics to an abrupt and uneasy close while launching an even bigger disaster candidate.
Original Sin leaves little doubt that behind the scenes, the facade was crumbling in 2024—and that top Democrats along with the media, including Jake Tapper, lied about it. The book offers a sobering portrait of a presidency straining under the weight of age, loyalty, and the brutal arithmetic of time.
What it doesn’t apparently do, however, is offer an apology to the public for the CNN host breaking our trust.
[Read More: Trump Gears Up For His Final Fight]
