Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson defend claims on Biden’s decline

In a live taping of ‘The Gist’ podcast, the authors of “Original Sin” — a book questioning the former president’s health — share their findings.

One book has been stirring up a lot of political controversy this spring: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s deep dive into President Biden’s health during his last year in office. 

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in May, Tapper and Thompson got on stage with Mike Pesca, host of The Gist podcast, to dig into the reporting behind Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. 

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, Tapper and Thompson detail how, according to their reporting, an ever-tightening inner circle worked to conceal Biden’s sparse schedule, failing memory and other signs of serious decline. Tapper describes an atmosphere of unquestioning loyalty, not unlike that of the current Trump White House, that supported Biden’s decision to run for a second term. Thompson and Tapper also get into the politically polarized feedback on the book, which has, at least from the far left and far right, been “ferocious.” 

This conversation was recorded on May 31, 2025. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Sara Bernard, Scot Michael

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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