Former President Bill Clinton launched a fierce defense of Joe Biden on June 2, 2025, denouncing CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again as a “smear” that exploits Biden’s health and legacy for profit. Speaking at a Philadelphia event, Clinton said, “I didn’t want to [read the book]… I saw President Biden not very long ago, and I thought he was in good shape. We’d have several long talks… and he was always on top of his brief,” per NBC News. The remarks, amplifying outrage over Tapper’s narrative, cast the book as unjournalistic and deepen scrutiny of its impact amid Biden’s cancer battle.
Clinton’s comments directly challenge Tapper’s claim of a Biden White House cover-up regarding the former president’s cognitive decline, a central thesis of the book co-authored with Axios’ Alex Thompson. Released in May 2025, Original Sin has fueled controversy, contributing to The Lead with Jake Tapper’s decade-low ratings of 525,000 viewers, per Nielsen Media Research. Critics, including Clinton, argue the book prioritizes sensationalism over facts, capitalizing on Biden’s recent cancer diagnosis—announced May 27—for commercial gain. A 2025 Pew poll shows 54% of Americans view such media portrayals as exploitative, with 62% expressing sympathy for Biden.
The former president’s firsthand account of Biden’s mental sharpness undercuts Tapper’s narrative. Clinton, who met Biden in early 2025, described him as “engaged” and “articulate,” per CNN, contrasting with the book’s depiction of a faltering leader. Biden’s ongoing public appearances, including a May 29 Delaware event for his Cancer Moonshot, and his optimistic June 1 statement about beating cancer, per The Washington Post, bolster this view. Critics like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told MSNBC that Tapper’s book “reads like a tabloid,” accusing it of distorting Biden’s presidency to appeal to conservative readers, a strategy that alienated CNN’s liberal base, per The Guardian.
Tapper’s defenders, including a CNN spokesperson, insist Original Sin is rigorously fact-checked, with a former New Yorker editor verifying sources, per Yahoo News. They argue Tapper’s admission of underreporting Biden’s health issues, made on The Megyn Kelly Show, reflects journalistic humility, per Fox News. Yet, the book’s timing—released as Biden faces a serious illness—has drawn backlash, with 57% of independents in an NBC poll calling it “insensitive.” The contrast between Biden’s dignified fight and Tapper’s profit motive, with book sales topping 100,000 copies, per Publishers Weekly, leaves a “bitter taste,” as Clinton implied.
The controversy reflects broader media accountability issues. Tapper’s attempt to straddle ideological lines has tanked his show’s 25-54 demographic to 95,000 viewers, per The Daily Mail, while fueling distrust in journalism, with 69% of Americans skeptical of mainstream outlets, per Pew. Clinton’s rebuke, backed by his 63% approval in a 2025 Gallup poll, resonates with those who see Biden’s legacy—marked by infrastructure and climate achievements—as unfairly tarnished. Meanwhile, Trump’s administration, boasting a 52% “right track” Rasmussen rating, per Fox News, escapes similar scrutiny despite a 96% court loss rate, per a Stanford analysis.
Clinton’s defense elevates Biden’s resilience over Tapper’s narrative, framing the book as a cynical cash grab. As Biden battles cancer with grace, the exploitation of his story underscores a media culture prioritizing profit over principle, leaving America to grapple with the cost of such narratives.
