Two reporters have released a book—Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House—that shines a new light on the extent of President Joe Biden's cognitive decline over the course of his reelection campaign. Amie Parnes of The Hill and Jonathan Allen of NBC News gained access to Biden's inner circle, discovering that top officials had grave concerns about Biden's fitness for the presidency; these concerns long predated the public's own awareness of the extent of his decline.
In fact, Vice President Kamala Harris had discussed plans for what to do in the event of Biden's sudden death—i.e., which judges she would want to swear her in as president. These plans were formulated by Jamal Simmons, a communications director who departed Harris' team in January 2023. In other words, Harris was thinking through worst-case scenarios as far back as then.
By the time of Biden's disastrous July debate with Donald Trump, the president's cognitive decline was so bad that aides had to help him navigate a home where a fundraiser was being held…by placing fluorescent tape on the floor to guide him from spot to spot. Parnes and Allen confirmed this shocking detail in an interview with me on Rising.
