Jake Tapper’s book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again disclosed that Biden’s cabinet meetings were scripted, and the cameras were specifically required to cover mistakes.
Biden’s use of flashcards was first highlighted during the Cornwall, England, G-7 Summit when he was seen holding “DOJ talking points.” However, leftwing fact-checkers defended this behavior, claiming it was not uncommon.
In July 2024, it also emerged that he required visual aids to exit rooms. In February 2024, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Biden’s reliance on note cards made negotiations difficult. “He still has a teleprompter when you meet behind closed doors,” McCarthy told FOX Business. “But the teleprompter are cards. I found when I met with him, it would just be a couple of them. He would read from the card.”
“He just sticks to the cards,” he added. “And if you go, if you deviate from the cards, he can’t continue onward there.”
According to McCarthy, Biden was no longer “the same man” he had previously known.
Tapper and Thompson’s book confirmed that Biden heavily relied on teleprompters and note cards, even for private cabinet meetings, the Hill reported. During cabinet meetings, Biden also required pre-determined questions and answers, which made cabinet meetings feel scripted. “Before these meetings, White House staff called the various departments and agencies to figure out what they were going to ask the president so that answers could be prepared. The conversations were largely scripted, even after the press had left the room,” the book stated.
Biden could also not record five-minute videos to keynote important events, with White House staff insisting that they could only be one or two minutes. The former president also required two cameras to ensure that if he messed up, they could jump-cut. “To compensate for that, aides filmed Biden with two cameras instead of one. If Biden messed up, the edit was less obvious with a jump cut,” they reported. “Other politicians use jump-cuts, but Biden aides noted to themselves how much more often they had to use them for the president.”
Additionally, Biden relied on note cards, even when reporters were absent. While signing a slew of executive orders, Trump mocked the former president by questioning whether he could respond to journalists’ questions organically while engaged in another activity. “Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don’t think so,” Trump said.
Four cabinet members, who secretly shared their experiences with the book authors to avoid retribution from the Biden administration, confirmed that Biden relied on note cards. This is hardly surprising since Biden’s reliance on note cards has been public knowledge since 2021.
According to Tapper and Thompson’s book, “Some Cabinet secretaries felt that, in fact, Biden relied on the cards more heavily when reporters were absent.” They also disclosed that the meetings were terrible and sometimes uncomfortable from the beginning.
“I don’t recall a great Cabinet meeting in terms of his presence. They were so scripted,” one Cabinet secretary disclosed, with another saying they hated the scripts.
