(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former President Bill Clinton defended Joe Biden amid the release of Original Sin, a book that confirms years-long reporting from conservative outlets about Biden’s cognitive decline.
Speaking on CBS Sunday Morning with reporter Tracy Smith, Clinton said the book, published by CNN’s Jake Tapper, did not resonate with him because he never saw Biden in decline.
“We’ve had several long talks, and I never walked away thinking, ‘He can’t do this anymore,’” Clinton said of Biden. “He was always on top of his briefs. I never saw any cognitive decline, so I didn’t know anything about this book—and I haven’t read it.”
🚨NEW: CBS News Correspondent Tracy Smith presses Bill Clinton on Biden's decline — he denies *EVER* seeing it🚨
SMITH: "Did you ever have a moment with him where you thought maybe he was unfit to run for president?"
CLINTON: "No … I had never seen him and walked away… pic.twitter.com/xLymWvWqtP
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) June 1, 2025
Clinton said he had recently seen Biden and thought he was in “good” shape, which is why the book did not “register” with him.
When asked why he wasn’t planning on reading it, Clinton added, “I didn’t want to because he’s not president anymore, and I think he did a good job. Right now, we’re facing challenges unlike any other in our history, and some people are just using this as a way to blame him for Trump’s reelection.”
Clinton is one of the few Democrats defending Biden, who left the White House in disgrace after unsuccessfully running for reelection and stepping down following his disastrous debate performance against now-President Donald Trump in 2024.
Millions of Americans were able to witness Biden’s decline, watching the former president stumble over his words, look confused and fatigued, all while coughing through the debate.
In Original Sin, Tapper interviewed several White House officials and Democratic lawmakers who conceded that the administration had convened a “cover-up” of Biden’s cognitive decline.
