- Former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain blamed senior aides — not Biden himself — for the former president’s poor debate performance against Trump, arguing that his staff kept him isolated from key domestic issues. Klain later pushed back on The Guardian’s portrayal of his remarks, saying they framed the facts incorrectly.
- According to Chris Whipple’s upcoming book, Biden’s debate preparation was marked by fatigue, disengagement, and shortened practice sessions, raising concerns within his team.
- While Klain still believed Biden could have served another term, Whipple reported that many of Biden’s closest advisers were in “a fog of delusion,” unwilling to acknowledge his decline.
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Former President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, attributed Biden’s poor debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump last summer to a lack of focus — not by Biden, but by his senior aides.
Klain, a longtime ally and supporter of Biden, discussed the debate in an interview for author Chris Whipple’s upcoming book, “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History“, which will be released in the week of April 6.
Klain pushes back on media’s portrayal of his remarks
Excerpts from the book were published by The Guardian, which described Klain’s account as painting a “devastating picture” of Biden’s mental and physical state before the debate. However, Klain has since clarified his statements, arguing that The Guardian misrepresented his remarks.
“I think the framing is wrong,” Klain told Politico via text. “My point wasn’t that the president lacked mental acuity … He was out of it because he had been [sidelined], not because he lacked capacity.”
Klain criticized Biden’s White House team for isolating him from domestic political concerns, noting that at the time, Biden was focused on managing U.S. involvement in two foreign wars.
“He had been isolated from domestic politics by a WH team unplugged from Hill Dems,” Klain said.
He did not specify which aides he blamed for the oversight.
Biden’s debate and internal concerns
Klain, who returned to assist with Biden’s debate preparations after serving as his chief of staff from 2021 to 2023, described significant concerns leading up to the event.
According to Whipple’s book, Biden’s debate preparation included two mock debates. The first was cut short after 45 minutes. During the second, he stopped after just 25 minutes, saying, “I’m just too tired to continue and I’m afraid of losing my voice here and I feel bad. I just need some sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Whipple wrote that Klain feared the debate “would be a nationally televised disaster.”
Klain defends Biden’s ability to serve
Despite concerns about Biden’s debate, Klain maintained that Biden could have “effectively governed for another four years.” He told Whipple that he still believed Biden should have stayed in the race following the June debate.
Whipple, previewing his book’s release in an interview with Politico, described the internal campaign struggles.
“I have fresh reporting on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis of Biden’s final days, and obviously his decline is a major part of the story,” he said. “Biden’s inner circle, his closest advisers, many of them were in a fog of delusion and denial. They believed what they wanted to believe.”
Biden Campaign has not responded to new books’ claims
Biden’s campaign has not publicly commented on the claims, though reports indicate the former president is planning his own book.
Whipple’s book joins a growing number of accounts analyzing the historic 2024 election.
Another book, written by NBC’s Jonathan Allen and The Hill’s Amie Parnes, examines the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party’s transition as Vice President Kamala Harris ultimately replaced Biden as the nominee.
