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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Entertainment
Lloyd Green

Original Sin: how Team Biden wished away his decline until it was too late

Joe Biden Alex Thompson Jake Tapper Kamala Harris Donald Trump David Plouffe Barack Obama Mike Donilon CNN White House
a man looking left
Joe Biden attends a Department of Defense commander-in-chief farewell ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, on 16 January 2025. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Joe Biden mistook his victory in 2020 for a sweeping, FDR-like mandate. Officially, that was before age and decay caught up. Horrifically, for Democrats, in June 2024 a debacle of a debate against Donald Trump confirmed what Washington insiders had only dared whisper but what most voters had known: Biden should not have sought re-election.

Less than a month later, he was out, replaced as Democratic nominee by his vice-president, Kamala Harris. Now, Trump runs wild and Biden’s legacy is buried beneath a heap of unkind reporting – and bouquets of sympathy, after news of his cancer.

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