A top advisor to former President Joe Biden has confessed that the administration engaged in “gaslighting” Americans when it continuously downplayed mounting worries about the oldest president in U.S. history and his capabilities.
Michael LaRosa, who previously served as a White House aide and was a press secretary for First Lady Jill Biden, acknowledged that from the very beginning, the campaign recognized that President Biden’s age posed a concern. LaRosa revealed that the campaign team was “scared to death” of allowing him to participate in unscripted interviews as the election approached, according to Puck.
“Cover-up to me is a little hard, a little harsh. Every politician, everybody, every human being tries to cover up age. We were always, from day one, cognizant that age was an issue,” LaRosa said Wednesday at a seminar hosted by the Science Institute at American University.
“There are some things that are true, I mean, like the gaslighting. There was a lot of denial of the polling. And I will use the term gaslighting because that’s what they were doing, the campaign, former colleagues. The message to everybody was to make sure that you tell people it’s too early.”
Leading up to Election Day, Biden faced numerous unfavorable polls, as concerns grew over his increasing verbal missteps, moments of confusion, and physical stumbles, all of which many viewed as indicators of his aging and possible cognitive deterioration.
Despite this, the White House consistently maintained that Biden was in good health.
However, behind closed doors, the Biden campaign was petrified at the idea of letting him operate without strict supervision, LaRosa claimed.
“The president’s team was scared to death of impromptu, unscripted, unrehearsed, unpracticed, unchoreographed, anything, they couldn’t compete for the attention economy,” he explained.
“They just couldn’t do it. They didn’t have any idea. And they didn’t have the vessel either in Biden, by the way, who would have done anything. He loves TV. He loves doing stuff. It was the orbit that did not trust their own candidate.”
“Biden needed the press. When he needed them the most, they didn’t trust him, they gave him the back foot of the doubt and they put their foot on the gas and never took it off. And he was politically dead.”
Facing increasing pressure over concerns about his mental decline and a downward spiral in polling, Biden ultimately dropped out of the 2024 race, choosing to endorse his vice president, Kamala Harris.
LaRosa shared these insights in response to a question from Puck reporter Tara Palmeri, who asked about a new book co-authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper, which discusses how the Biden administration and its allies tried to cover up concerns about his mental health.
Tapper has come under fire on social media for dismissing concerns about Biden’s age during the campaign while being well aware of the issues.
{Matzav.com}