Former Biden aides 'don't believe' Jill Biden, are angry over ex-first lady's debate comments, reporter says
Axios' Alex Thompson said ex-Biden officials told him they "don't believe" former First Lady Jill Biden when she says she thought her husband was "having a stroke" at the 2024 debate.
Former first lady Jill Biden is now the target of ire among former Biden administration officials on Thursday for her recent comments expressing the shock she said she had while watching her husband's now-infamous debate performance.
Alex Thompson, the Axios reporter who co-wrote "Original Sin," the book released last year that delved into former President Joe Biden's cognitive decline scandal, said he's been flooded with reactions from members of Biden's orbit after Jill Biden began speaking out about her husband's struggle to speak coherently at the CNN debate against then-former President Donald Trump.
She told CBS News she thought her husband was "having a stroke" or might have been "drugged," according to The Atlantic, ahead of the release of her forthcoming memoir.
"Well, a lot of Democrats, including several Biden aides that I’ve talked to since yesterday when this interview came out, just simply don’t believe her," Thompson told CNN's Brianna Keilar.
SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER JILL BIDEN REVEALS SHE WAS 'HORRIFIED' WATCHING JOE'S DISASTROUS DEBATE
Thompson pointed out how Jill Biden appeared alongside her husband at a post-debate rally and seemed to act as everything was normal the following day carrying on with other campaign events.
"And a lot of former Biden aides, you know, have told me if you really believed he might be having a stroke, that it’s not necessarily the same behavior that you would do. There’s no evidence that there was any significant medical exam afterward," Thompson said before acknowledging she suggested her husband take a cognitive exam but was overruled by his advisors, per The Atlantic.
He continued, "And, you know, a lot of Democrats think that this is simply unhelpful to come out at this moment and try to rewrite this portion of history... I have to say that there is a significant skepticism that she is trying to rewrite this narrative right now."
The Axios reporter revisited his own reporting, which showed Biden aides had witnessed the former president the way he appeared at the debate months prior, insisting it wasn't a one-off as Jill Biden told CBS News. He also cited Joe Biden's interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur, where his memory issues also surfaced. Yet Biden's "inner circle" kept saying he was fine.
"They just feel that the inner circle gaslit them," Thompson said.
"I've been surprised by the level of anger and frustration that I've heard from former Biden aides towards the former first lady in the last 24 hours," he added.
Thompson previously posted on X that one former Biden official told him, "she’s lying."
