Another Bombshell Is Out From Upcoming Biden Book

Another bombshell is out from the upcoming book about former President Biden by two reporters: They say the then-president attended a Hollywood fundraiser in June 2024 and didn't recognize George Clooney, a co-host of the event, despite the fact that he and the actor are longtime acquaintances and they were speaking face to face at the time. NBC News and the New Yorker acquired advance copies of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, which will be released next week.

The book describes Biden "hobbling" out and giving "curt" answers to Clooney when the actor tried to talk to him, until an aide alerted Biden to who he was talking to, at which point Biden reportedly said, "Oh, yeah! Hi, George!" The authors say that while Clooney knew Biden had just returned from a G7 summit in Italy that morning, "hooooooooooly s---, he wasn't expecting this." The excerpt also describes former President Obama being similarly taken aback by Biden's appearance at the event, frequently stepping in to finish sentences for him if he trailed off. Less than two weeks after the fundraiser, Biden had his disastrous debate against Donald Trump, and Clooney publicly called for him to step out of the presidential race. (More Joe Biden stories.)