Joe Biden has been out of the White House for months now. But more is coming out about how chaotic his presidency really was.
And a former Biden official has made a disturbing admission about the former president’s health.
In a candid conversation on the “Mixed Signals” podcast, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki offered her perspective on President Joe Biden’s mental sharpness during her time in the administration. Speaking with host Ben Smith, Psaki firmly denied witnessing any decline in Biden’s cognitive abilities while she served in the Oval Office, though she acknowledged the rapid effects of aging.
“I never saw that person — not a single time, and I was in the Oval Office every day – that was on that debate stage,” Psaki stated, referencing Biden’s widely criticized performance during the June 2024 presidential debate against Donald Trump.
The event, described by many as a political disaster, sparked intense scrutiny from both supporters and detractors, with calls for Biden to exit the presidential race.
When pressed about speculation that White House staff concealed concerns about Biden’s mental capacity toward the end of his term, Psaki pushed back. “I think cover up is such a loaded phrase, but I also left in May 2022 just for the facts here, and I have seen Biden once since then,” she explained.
Having had limited contact with Biden after her departure, Psaki noted she lacked firsthand insight into the period when questions about his leadership ability intensified.
“I’m not a doctor, aging happens quite quickly,” she stated. “Were things that people saw during that period of time that were similar to that or would’ve been in a category of that? I don’t know, possibly and all these books are gonna tell us.”
Psaki dismissed the idea of a deliberate cover-up by her former colleagues, calling the term misleading. “It’s a very loaded term, I think. A cover-up is often like a crime. People use that term when they refer to Watergate or the covering up of not sharing public information and about a war,” she said.
Defending her former colleagues, Psaki described Biden’s staff as “good human beings at their root.” She expressed confidence that they would not participate in an effort to mislead the public about the president’s condition, an assertion that most people would have a hard time believing after witnessing Biden’s mental decline in real time over the past few years.
“I would like to think they would not be a part of an active ‘let’s hide from the public what we see happening privately,’” she said. “I don’t know the facts of what was happening privately.”
The conversation also touched on the media’s role in reporting on Biden’s age. Smith suggested journalists may have treaded lightly around the “sensitive” topic, potentially missing critical stories. Psaki agreed that future accounts might reveal what was overlooked.
“Maybe we’ll learn from these books is what the facts were behind the scenes and what the media missed,” she said. “Maybe the media missed a lot and so maybe in retrospect, there were major stories and moments missed.”
Psaki also pointed out that Biden’s age was no secret during his campaign and early presidency. She argued that Republican operatives amplified narratives about his decline, particularly in 2023 and 2024, though she claimed much of this portrayal was inaccurate in earlier years.
“While we know there were problematic things behind-the-scenes now in 2023 and 2024, there was an aggressive all-out pitching operation from the right-wing and from the Republicans about Joe Biden’s age and how he was in decline….the majority of which wasn’t true, in 2019-2022,” she said.
Reflecting on Biden’s legacy, Psaki noted that his age became a significant vulnerability in public perception. “When we got polling before 2023-2024, the biggest vulnerability for Biden was his age,” she revealed.
She suggested that his decision to run for reelection, followed by his withdrawal in favor of Kamala Harris, shaped much of the narrative around his presidency.
“I think a lot of his legacy has been based around this question of him running for reelection, him not being aware or not being honest with himself, about him not being able to do a full term,” Psaki said.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
