Joe Biden was 'fatigued, befuddled and disengaged' ahead of 2024 debate with Donald Trump, claims book

WASHINGTON, DC: In a new book set to release this month, former President Joe Biden's ex-aide, Ron Klain, revealed that the 82-year-old was fatigued, confused, and disengaged in the lead-up to his June 2024 debate with now-President Donald Trump. 

Biden's dismal performance in the CNN debate threw his 2024 campaign into turmoil, leading to his decision to step aside and allow former Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the Democratic nomination.

In journalist Chris Whipple's new book, titled 'Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History', Klain, who served as Biden's chief of staff from 2021 to 2023, shared insights into how the Biden camp organized two mock debates to prepare the former president.

New book reveals Joe Biden's exhaustion ahead of his debate with Donald Trump

Ron Klain, who returned to work with Joe Biden last June for debate preparation, recalled a meeting with the POTUS at Aspen Lodge, where he was "startled" by his state, as per Fox News.

"At his first meeting with Biden in Aspen Lodge, the president’s cabin. [Klain] was startled. He’d never seen him so exhausted and out of it. Biden was unaware of what was happening in his own campaign. Halfway through the session, the president excused himself and went off to sit by the pool," an excerpt from Whipple's new book reads. 

Whipple goes on to explain that Biden appeared "fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged," and Klain feared the debate would be a "nationally televised disaster."

The book also delves into the debate preparation, revealing that Klain and the preparation team arranged two mock debates for Biden. 

The first one, initially scheduled to last 90 minutes, was cut short after just 45 minutes.

Whipple writes, "The first was scheduled to last 90 minutes but Klain called it off after 45. The president’s voice was shot and so was his grasp of the subject. All he really could talk about was his infrastructure plan and how he was rebuilding America and 16 million jobs. He had nothing to say about his agenda for a second term." 

In the second mock debate, Biden’s fatigue became even more evident. "25 minutes into the second mock debate, the president was done for the day. 'I’m just too tired to continue and I’m afraid of losing my voice here and I feel bad,'" Klain said, quoting Biden. "'I just need some sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow.' He went off to bed."

Chris Whipple says many of Joe Biden's aides were caught in a 'fog of delusion' regarding his state

In an interview with Politico, Chris Whipple discussed his book and revealed that many of Joe Biden’s closest aides were caught in a "fog of delusion" regarding the former president’s condition.

The journalist argued that calling the situation a "cover-up" didn’t fully capture the severity of the issue.

He explained, "I have fresh reporting on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis of Biden’s final days, and obviously, his decline is a major part of the story. I happen to think that to call it a ‘cover-up’ is simplistic."

"I think it was stranger and way more troubling than that. Biden’s inner circle, his closest advisers, many of them were in a fog of delusion and denial. They believed what they wanted to believe," Whipple added. 

Notably, Whipple’s book is one of several set to release this year, all focusing on the 2024 election, which was marked by chaos and unpredictability. 

The Hill's Amie Parnes and NBC News' Jonathan Allen's 'FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House' explores "the backstage story of bloodsport politics in its rawest form—the clawing, backstabbing, and rabble-rousing that drove Donald Trump into the White House and Democrats into the wilderness," as per publisher Harper Collins. 

In the book, which came out on Tuesday, April 1, Parnes and Allen also shed light on how former President Barack Obama "worked behind the scenes" to stop Harris from becoming the Democratic nominee. 

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson's book 'Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again', explores how Biden's "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," as per Penguin Random House. It's set to release on May 20.