A newly released political exposé has unveiled stunning details about a staged town hall event held by President Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign—an event that was reportedly so poorly executed due to Biden’s performance that none of the footage was usable for campaign advertisements.
The revelations come from Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, co-authored by CNN political analyst Jake Tapper and Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson. The authors detail how, in the spring of 2024, Biden’s campaign organized a faux town hall in Delaware, closed to the press, designed explicitly to generate positive footage of the president interacting with supporters.
According to Thompson, the campaign’s goal was to combat growing concerns about Biden’s age and cognitive abilities. However, despite the controlled environment, including friendly attendees and pre-approved questions, the resulting footage was considered entirely unusable by campaign staff. One source cited Biden’s inability to clearly articulate thoughts, while others offered more superficial justifications such as poor lighting—an excuse widely mocked by critics and journalists alike.
“The whole point was to create usable, inspiring campaign content,” Thompson explained. “Instead, they filmed for over 90 minutes and couldn’t use a single clip. That says everything about the state of the campaign at that point.”
The book also uncovers deep frustrations within the Democratic Party about the internal handling of Biden’s cognitive fitness and public image. The town hall incident reportedly occurred around the same time as Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report was released, which controversially described Biden as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” Despite pushback from the White House and Biden allies who criticized Hur’s characterization, Original Sin paints a picture of a campaign struggling to mask the president’s visible decline.
A more damning narrative emerges around Mike Donilon, a longtime Biden confidant, who was paid $4 million to assist with the president’s campaign from February to November 2024. By comparison, the next highest-paid official received just over $300,000. The payout, according to Thompson, was personally insisted upon by Biden himself, further highlighting the disconnect between campaign realities and the president’s personal loyalties.
Reactions within the Democratic establishment were mixed, with some expressing outrage at what they describe as a deliberate cover-up. Many insiders interviewed for the book expressed concern that Biden’s decline made him unfit to manage sudden crises or major decisions, especially late into his term.
One panelist discussing the revelations said, “If this is all true, the American public has a right to know: who was really running the country?”
Thompson noted that top aides and cabinet members often had limited access to the president, sometimes going months without meetings, fueling internal speculation about who was making executive decisions. Key names cited as decision-makers included National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, political aides Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, and policy chief Bruce Reed.
The book’s overarching message is clear: while Biden was technically still the commander-in-chief, an increasingly insular team of advisers often acted as a protective barrier between the president and both the media and the American public.
As Original Sin gains national attention, it is expected to spark renewed debates about transparency, presidential fitness, and the ethical obligations of political operatives in an election cycle. The Biden campaign has not officially responded to the book’s claims.