U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Monday, May 31, 2021. Biden's $6 trillion budget request proposes record spending to reduce historical disparities in underserved communities, following his campaign pledge to promote racial equity as an inseparable part of rebuilding the economy. Photographer: Tasos Katopodis/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former President Biden’s aides considered using a wheelchair for him if he won reelection to a second term.
“Biden’s physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election,” according to the new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson.
Biden’s frequent falls made covering up his infirmities challenging.
One of the most visible instances was in March 2021 while jogging up the steps to Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. Biden tripped three times, but the situation was dismissed due to strong wind gusts.
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The only medical information provided during Biden’s presidency came from the medical reports by the presidential physician, Kevin O’Connor.
“Given Biden’s age, [O’Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the book reports.
In 2024, months before Biden and President Donald Trump’s debate, O’Connor wrote in a memo that the president “continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.”
O’Connor recommended that Biden needed more free time in his presidential role.
Tapper and Thompson also mentioned that Biden showed signs of worsening physical and mental health, as seen by his family members and aides. Biden has previously denied these claims.
A recent poll found that Biden ranks lowest in approval ratings among all living presidents.
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