A former top staffer in the Biden White House told Puck News on Wednesday that the Biden-Harris administration was “gaslighting” Americans by dismissing concerns over polling showing that former President Joe Biden was not receiving support from voters in his own party during his reelection bid.
Michael LaRosa, who served as a longtime press secretary to former first lady Jill Biden, also admitted to Puck News that Biden’s age was an “issue,” and claimed that Biden’s staff was “scared to death” of the former president participating in unrehearsed or unscripted interviews. Though most Americans and several Democrats repeatedly raised concerns over Biden’s age and cognitive fitness during his time in office, his administration frequently denied these claims.
“The president’s team was scared to death of impromptu, unscripted, unrehearsed, unpracticed, unchoreographed anything,” LaRosa told the outlet. “They couldn’t compete in the attention economy. They didn’t have any idea how. And they didn’t have the vessel in Biden, who would have done anything. He loves TV. He loves doing stuff. It was the orbit that didn’t trust the candidate.”
Still, LaRosa defended the former president by telling Puck News that “every politician” tries to “cover up” their age.
“Calling it a cover-up is a little harsh and exaggerated,” LaRosa told the outlet. “Every politician, every human being, tries to cover up their age. We all wear makeup on TV. So we were always, from day one, cognizant that age was an issue. From the moment I joined the campaign in the fall of 2019, it was a problem.”
Ahead of the 2024 election, many voters raised concerns over Biden’s age and mental acuity, especially after his disastrous performance in the June 2024 presidential debate against President Donald Trump. Following the debate, the list of Democrats calling on the former president to end his reelection bid grew rapidly, as media figures quickly withdrew support as well.
“Biden needed the press, but when he needed the press the most, they didn’t trust him. And then the press put their foot on the gas and never took it off, and he was politically dead in a month,” LaRosa added.
Biden stepped down from the presidential race shortly after the debate in July 2024, later endorsing former Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket.
“There are some things that are true, like the gaslighting,” LaRosa said in the interview. “There was a lot of denial of the polling. All of the polling in the spring of 2023, and then the fall of 2023, showed that there was no real depth of support from his own party, let alone independents and Republicans. And Biden had been tied, or within the margin of error, with Trump—who had, by that point, how many court hearings? How many indictments? The fact that he was so close was always a problem, but they were kind of in denial.”
After Harris’ election loss to Trump, several reports were released citing former Biden aides who claimed that he acted frail and weary during the final months of his presidency.
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