CNN's Jake Tapper, along with Axios' Alex Thompson, announced their new book on Wednesday morning, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." The cover fittingly shows President Joe Biden covering his face. The announcement has generated plenty of reaction, given that Tapper was among those participating in the very "cover-up" his book purports to discuss.
Tapper's announcement, about how the book is available for preorder, has been thoroughly ratioed over X. So far, the post has brought in over 5,000 replies, with many users calling Tapper out for putting a book out over the issue he steadfastly covered up. The announcement has also become a trending topic on the platform.
Aaron Walker at our sister site of Twitchy highlighted some of the best reactions to Tapper's announcement, as well as clips that serve as reminders of Tapper's own complicity.
ORIGINAL SIN, now available for pre-order at https://t.co/a9TcEIjAnV from @Penguinpress. Been working hard on this with @AlexThomp, from interviews with more than 200 WH insiders, Dem leaders, and more. #OriginalSinBook pic.twitter.com/e7hd4bqNHM
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) February 26, 2025
The book description available from Amazon tells quite the story, though it also leads to more questions and anger [Emphasis original]:
From two of America’s most respected journalists, an unflinching and explosive reckoning with one of the most fateful decisions in American political history: Joe Biden’s run for reelection despite evidence of his serious decline—amid desperate efforts to hide the extent of that deterioration.
In Greek tragedy, the protagonist’s effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy.
Joe Biden launched his successful 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump presidential term. He, his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations. At his debate with Trump on June 27, 2024, the consequences of that deception were exposed to the world. It was shocking and upsetting.
Now the full, unsettling truth is being told for the first time. Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson take us behind closed doors and into private conversations between the heaviest of hitters, revealing how big the problem was and how many people knew about it. From White House staffers at the highest to lowest levels, to leaders of Congress and the Cabinet, from governors to donors and Hollywood players, the truth is finally being told. What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless—a desperate bet that went bust—and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents. The story the authors tell raises fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will continue for decades.
The irony is biting: In the name of defeating what they called an existential threat to democracy, Biden and his inner circle ensured it, tossing aside his implicit promise to serve for only one term, denying the existence of health issues the nation had been watching for years, dooming the Democrats to defeat. The decision to run again, the Original Sin of this president, led to a campaign of denial and gaslighting, leading directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has happened as a consequence. Rarely does hubris meet nemesis more explosively. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, Original Sin is essential reading.
If Tapper really was one of America's "most respected journalists," why didn't he admit the truth sooner, instead of waiting to write a book that's not coming out until approximately 11 months after the CNN debate that Biden blew so badly, a debate that Tapper co-moderated? That debate is even mentioned in part of the book description.
Furthermore, the description notes that it wasn't just Biden, his family, and his aides who "lied" about his decline, but the mainstream media as well. Last July, not long after Biden was forced out of the race by his fellow Democrats, a YouGov/Times of London poll was released, showing who voters thought was complicit in covering up for Biden. Eighty-eight percent said they believed that the media was at least a little bit involved, with 59 percent saying they were "a great deal" involved. Twenty percent say they were "somewhat" involved, and 9 percent say they were "a little" involved.
"Now the full, unsettling truth is being told for the first time," the description goes on to read, no doubt to earn readers. Though, Tapper and Thompson ought to have had a duty to share this information sooner.
The last paragraph is perhaps most damning of all, though, as it begins by pointing out how "The irony is biting...," and it certainly is, but because of Tapper's role. While the last line of the description tries to sell the book to people, "Wherever you stand on the political spectrum," there's a clue about it's political leanings. The description blames Biden for President Donald Trump's second term, noting how such a move lead "directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has happened as a consequence."
Beyond the thousands of replies to Tapper's post, many took to X to share specific examples of his role in the cover-up he's writing about now.
Tapper had been confronted for years about Biden's lack of mental fitness to be president. He scoffed at, derided, and even insulted those who dared to raise the issue. This included going after Lara Trump in 2020, harshly correcting her with claims that Biden merely had a stutter.
Last year I asked @jaketapper why he & CNN were lying to the American public about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) February 26, 2025
They all rolled their eyes and ignored my question
Jake Tapper is now publishing a book “exposing the cover up” of Joe Biden’s mental decline 💀 pic.twitter.com/X20nzeZRjP
Here's Jake Tapper incensed over Joe Biden's "stutter" and outraged over claims of Biden's cognitive decline.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 26, 2025
Now he's cashing in on a book about Biden's cognitive decline and media cover up. There is no bottom for these people.
pic.twitter.com/rdNdqh4YKQ
Excuse me? Seems like @LaraLeaTrump is owed an apology https://t.co/KYVs8OxkNS https://t.co/lRS7JJ9yGZ
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 26, 2025
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