Biden Aides Considered Putting President In Wheelchair Post Election, New Book Alleges

Aides to former President Joe Biden considered putting the aging leader in a wheelchair following the presidential election, an excerpt of Alex Thompson and CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s new book alleges.

Throughout 2023 and 2024, as concern of Biden’s fitness for office grew, aides were discussing whether the now-82-year-old would need a wheelchair post election because his stiff gait worsened, according to Thompson and Tapper’s book, “Original Sin.” The book is based off of 200 interviews with sources, “mostly Democratic insiders,” according to Thompson, a CNN contributor. The president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, also floated the idea of a wheelchair in the event that Biden had “another bad fall,” the book adds. (RELATED: Joe And Jill Biden Reportedly Try To Quietly Weasel Back Into Democratic Leadership)

In 2023, Biden fell over a sandbag at the US Air Force Academy commencement in June, and the incident caused the former president’s team to become more concerned about another fall, the book alleges.

While Biden’s physician publicly indicated that the former president was in good health, behind closed doors O’Connor was pushing his aides to get the 82-year-old more rest, “Original Sin” alleges. The doctor would quip that “Biden’s staff members were trying to kill him, while he was trying to keep him alive,” Axios writes of the excerpt of the book.

Though independent outlets reported on Biden’s decline throughout his presidency, the former president’s debate performance in which he stumbled and gaffed his way through answers stoked fear and concern through legacy media and the Democratic Party.

In the months following the 2024 election, several books revealed how bad Biden’s physical and mental state was behind closed doors.

While prepping for the 2024 debate with Trump, Biden couldn’t grasp the back-and-forth of debate and would fall asleep by the pool, one aide said in another new book. Another new book shared that Biden aides were prepping for the event that Biden could die or that someone else would have to take over his bid for president.

U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden arrive back at Air Force One as they prepare to depart Harrisburg International Airport on July 07, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. President Biden held several campaign events in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.  (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“[Biden’s] medical exam made clear that he had a stiffened gait caused, in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened,” a spokesperson for the former president said in response to the book.

“He was transparent about this, and it was far from ‘severe.’ Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity,” the statement continued. “And so far, we are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.”