CNN anchor Jake Tapper, in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored on May 26, 2025, claimed that the cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline during his presidency may be “maybe even worse than Watergate” in some ways. This statement was made while promoting his book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, co-authored with Axios reporter Alex Thompson. The book, released on May 20, 2025, details efforts by Biden’s inner circle, including his wife Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, and senior aides, to conceal his diminishing cognitive and physical capacities, which Tapper argues contributed to Trump’s 2024 election victory.
Details of Tapper’s Claim
- Comparison to Watergate: Tapper argued that the Biden cover-up could be worse than Watergate because “Richard Nixon was in control of his faculties when he was not drinking,” whereas Biden’s cognitive decline impaired his ability to function consistently as president. He clarified that the scandal is distinct from Watergate, which involved a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and Nixon’s subsequent cover-up, but invoked Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox’s observation about the presidency’s power and the loyalty of aides who prop up a struggling leader.
- Evidence of Decline: Original Sin cites over 200 sources, revealing incidents like Biden failing to recognize George Clooney at a June 2024 fundraiser, forgetting aides’ names, and struggling in a 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur. Aides reportedly discussed using a wheelchair for Biden in a potential second term due to physical frailty. Cabinet members described highly scripted meetings, with limited access to Biden by 2023–2024, and some suspected decisions were framed by a “politburo” of aides.
- Cover-Up Allegations: Tapper and Thompson allege that Biden’s family and aides, including Jill Biden and senior staff like Mike Donilon, actively hid his condition from the public, media, and even Cabinet members. For example, after a Los Angeles fundraiser, no official video of Biden’s 20–30-minute conversation with Jimmy Kimmel and Barack Obama was released, which Tapper called a “big tell” of concealment. The White House dismissed these claims, with a spokesperson stating, “No one has been able to point out where Joe Biden was unable to do his job because of mental decline.”
- Turning Point: The June 27, 2024, presidential debate, moderated by Tapper and Dana Bash, exposed Biden’s decline to a wide audience. Tapper sent a message to his crew early in the debate, and Bash slipped him a note saying, “He just lost the election,” reflecting the severity of Biden’s performance. Biden withdrew from the race a month later, paving the way for Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November 2024.
- Tapper’s Self-Criticism: Tapper has faced backlash for not covering Biden’s decline more aggressively earlier, admitting on Megyn Kelly’s show and to Morgan that he “wished I had covered the story better.” He apologized to Lara Trump for dismissing her 2020 claims about Biden’s cognitive issues, acknowledging, “She saw something that I did not see at the time.” Critics, including conservative commentators like Jim Verdi and Stephen L. Miller, accused Tapper of complicity in the cover-up, pointing to his 2020 defense of Biden’s stutter.
Connection to Previous Queries
- NPR Lawsuit Against Trump’s Funding Ban: Your query about NPR and public radio stations suing the Trump administration over a funding ban connects to this topic through Trump’s broader media confrontations. The 60 Minutes lawsuit (related to your query about Bill Owens’s resignation) and the NPR/PBS funding ban reflect Trump’s strategy to challenge media outlets he perceives as biased. Tapper’s book and the NPR lawsuit both highlight tensions between Trump and the media, with Tapper’s claims about Biden’s decline potentially fueling Trump’s narrative of media bias, as seen in his attacks on CBS and NPR.
- 60 Minutes and Bill Owens’s Resignation: The 60 Minutes lawsuit, where Trump alleged deceptive editing of a Kamala Harris interview, parallels the Biden cover-up narrative in questioning media integrity. Owens’s resignation amid corporate pressure from Paramount Global to settle the lawsuit mirrors the editorial independence concerns raised by Tapper’s book, where media outlets faced challenges reporting on Biden’s decline due to White House pushback. Both cases involve accusations of media manipulation, though in different contexts (editing vs. underreporting).
- NTPC Recruitment and Planet Money: The NTPC Deputy Manager and Assistant Chemist Trainee recruitments are unrelated, focusing on Indian PSU jobs. However, Planet Money’s discussion on manufacturing jobs could loosely connect to Tapper’s narrative, as both explore systemic issues in public perception and institutional trust. The Biden cover-up, like the nostalgia for manufacturing jobs, involves a gap between reality and public narrative, with media and political actors shaping perceptions.
- Other Queries: The Druk Padma Karpo School, French Open, Cheese-Rolling Chase, chemical plant explosion, Denisa Maria Adas, Confindustria, UPSC Calendar, and Joe Wilson’s Putin comments have no direct link to Tapper’s claims or the Biden cover-up.
Critical Perspective
Tapper’s comparison to Watergate is provocative but debated. Watergate involved criminal acts (burglary, wiretapping) and a cover-up that led to Nixon’s resignation, while the Biden cover-up, as alleged, is a moral and political scandal without clear criminality. Critics like Jon Stewart and Naomi Biden argue Tapper’s reporting came too late, with Naomi calling the book “political fairy smut” reliant on anonymous sources. The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple and others note that journalists, including Tapper, faced White House intimidation, but some avoided the story to not aid Trump, raising questions about media’s role. Conversely, conservative X posts (e.g., @CGasparino, @NextNewsNetwork) amplify the scandal, calling it bigger than Watergate and accusing media complicity. Biden’s recent prostate cancer diagnosis (announced May 2025) has muted some criticism, but the debate persists about whether the cover-up endangered national security or was a protective act for a loyal leader.
Next Steps
- Chart Option: I can create a chart summarizing the timeline of Biden’s decline and key events (e.g., 2020 campaign, 2023 Hur interview, 2024 debate, book release) or comparing media coverage of Biden’s decline vs. Watergate.
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Would you like a chart, more updates, or a deeper dive into a specific aspect? Sources: Daily Mail, The New Yorker, Fox News, TheWrap, NPR, The Independent, The Washington Post.
CNN HOST JAKE TAPPER Said during an interview with piors morgan on monday that the cover-up of form chief president biden’s decline was “Watergate scandal dogal dogs
“Joe biden is not richard nixon, and the hidding and cover-up of his deterioration is not watergate. ‘ I am not entryly sure I agree, jake with that conclusion, “Morgan said, quoting the book, during his show, “Piers morgan uncensored.”
Tapper and Axios Reporter Alex Thompson Released A Book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-UP, and his disastrous choice to run again,” Which Details the Cover-UP of Biden’S choice to run for re-election.
“The next line is, ‘it is an entryly separate scandal’. It is a scandal. It is without question, and maybe even worse than waters than waters in some ways. Faculties when he wasn’t drinking, so the idea that, we don’t mean to exonerate, “Tapper said.
Axios Reporter Pushes Back on Biden’s Denial of Mental Decline, Saying White House Insides Disagree
Jake Tapper said during an interview with piors morgan that the cover-up of former president biden’s decline was worse than watergate. (Left: (Photo by Allison Robbert/AFP Via Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Jason MENDEEZ/Getty Images))
“The only reason that we have the watergate thing in there is a person we quote archibald cox, who was a watergate investigator, talking about how powerful People who have a vested interest in keeping that president proposed up, “The cnn host added. “So that’s the only reason we invoke watergate is just to make clear like, it’s not watergate this is an entrely separete scandal, maybe even WorsE.”
The Watergate Scandal is Known as the Nixon Administration’s Cover-up of a Break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters during the 1972 election. The scandal was investigated and ultimately LED to Nixon Resigning in 1974.
Morgan agreed that the cover-up of biden’s decline was than the watergate scandal, before pressing tapper on his coverage of the former president.
Morgan Asked Tapper If He Felt He Owed The American People an apology “for slightly dropping the ball with this.” Morgan also played a clip of tapper’s 2020 interview with Lara Trump, Who Worked For President Donald Trump’s Campaign at the time, Spotlighting some of his past coverage of the forms.
Liberal columnist says that denying ‘biden’s infirmit’ was sign of democrats’ ‘Original sin’ in 2024 campaign
Richard nixon gives the thumbs up after his resultation as the 37th President of the united states. (Gene Forte/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)
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“I feel like I Ove the American People an ACKNOWLEDGMENT That I wish I Had Covered The Story Better,” Tapper Responded. “Knowing what we know now, and looking back that interview, which I feel trendous humility about, She [Lara Trump] was right and i was wrong. I did not see, in the moments he was having, I did not see that as cognitive decline. “
Tapper said he would try to do better with Regard to his coverage during the discussion.
The CNN HOST ACKNOWLEDGED FEELING “Humility” was confronted about his past coverage, but has still been criticized for the book about biden.
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MSNBC HOST Mika Brzezinski Insified during an interview with tapper and thompson earlier this month that they covered the discussion about biden’s age in real-time, Taking Isue With The Authanas of ‘Allegation of A Cover-up.
“Nobody agrees with me, but we debated this, and we cover Cover up, which insinuates a crime or something. Limits of the law in every way, “Brzezinski said.
Liberal co-host of “the View” Joy Behar Complained during their show that tapper was “hawking” the book on CNN, Demanding to Know When the CNN HOST WRITE A Book About Trump.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/tapper-claims-biden-decline-cover-up-maybe-even-worse-than-watergate