NPR’s “Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep pressed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday about whether he was honest with voters about former President Joe Biden’s physical and mental health.
Details have emerged about former White House aides and staffers’ attempts to cover-up Biden’s physical and cognitive decline, particularly following the May 20 release of “Original Sin,” a book by Axios’ Alex Thompson and CNN’s Jake Tapper. Buttigieg asserted during the “Morning Edition” interview that he had never questioned Biden’s judgement or lied about his health during his time in office.
“That’s not true, in my case anyway. I told the truth which was that [Biden] was old [and] you could see that he was old. And also when it came to my ability to do my job and to have my boss, my president support me in that job. I always got whatever I needed from him from the Oval Office,” Buttigieg said.
“You never had a moment before the famous presidential debate where you worried about whether he was all there?” Inskeep asked.
Buttigieg said there were “moments” where he noticed that Biden looked visibly “tired” as a result of his age, but that he never doubted Biden was capable of making good decisions. Inskeep then pointed to the former president’s performance during the June 27, 2024, debate, which ultimately prompted him to drop out of the 2024 race at Democrats’ behests.
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“Do you think that he just had a bad night on that debate? Was he getting worse overtime? What was going on?” Inskeep asked.
“No, I think it was clear, and even he reached this conclusion, that he was not able to mount a successful campaign and run again which is why he stood down. At the same time, what I saw when I was doing my job is that when I needed the White House, when I needed the president, I got what I needed,” Buttigieg replied.
Biden only held nine cabinet meetings during his term in office and went nearly a year without holding a single meeting in September 2024. Cabinet members, which included Buttigieg, would typically meet with Biden’s advisers, such as then-national security adviser Jake Sullivan and former economic adviser Lael Brainard, rather than with the president himself.
Biden’s staff and close aides grew worried that his waning health and age would negatively impact his chances of reelection. The then-president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, told Biden’s aides that he may have needed a wheelchair if he had suffered from another fall, causing his aides to take extra precaution when the former president appeared in public, according to Axios, which first cited “Original Sin.”
The former president also used pre-prepared note cards during his infrequent press conferences, which listed who he should call on and what question they would be asking.
Biden reportedly did not recognize his own acquaintance, Hollywood actor George Clooney, during a fundraiser in June 2024 and notably searched for former Republican Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski during a September 2022 event, even though she had died in a car crash one month earlier.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed O’Connor and members of Biden’s staff to testify on the cover-up, though several of them have pleaded the Fifth.
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