CITIZENS NEWS

Former Biden aide admits White House ‘gaslit’ public over president’s cognitive decline

By isabelle // 2025-02-28

• Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden's former press secretary, admitted the Biden administration misled the public about President Biden’s cognitive and physical decline.
• LaRosa revealed the White House engaged in “gaslighting” to hide Biden’s struggles, fearing unscripted moments would expose his vulnerabilities.
• CNN’s Jake Tapper, who previously dismissed concerns about Biden’s mental state, released a book detailing the administration’s efforts to conceal his decline.
• Biden’s team created a protective bubble around him, limiting public interactions to avoid exposing his cognitive issues.
• The administration’s lack of transparency ultimately backfired, leading to Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race amid growing public scrutiny.

Michael LaRosa, former press secretary for First Lady Jill Biden, revealed that the Biden administration deliberately misled the public about President Joe Biden’s declining mental and physical health. Speaking at American University’s Sine Institute of Policy and Politics, LaRosa acknowledged that the White House engaged in “gaslighting” to conceal Biden’s cognitive struggles, even as concerns about his ability to lead grew. This revelation comes as CNN’s Jake Tapper, who once dismissed concerns about Biden’s age, releases a book detailing the administration’s efforts to hide the president’s decline. LaRosa, who served as a key figure in the Biden family’s inner circle, admitted that the campaign was “cognizant from day one” that Biden’s age was a liability. “There are some things that are true, the gaslighting,” LaRosa said. “There was a lot of denial of the polling. And I will use the term gaslight because that is what they were doing—the campaign, former colleagues.”

A campaign built on denial

LaRosa’s comments shed light on the lengths to which Biden’s team went to shield the public from the president’s vulnerabilities. He revealed that Biden’s staff was “scared to death” of unscripted moments, fearing that the president’s cognitive decline would become apparent. “The President’s team was scared to death of impromptu, unscripted, unrehearsed, unpracticed, unchoreographed anything,” LaRosa stated. This admission aligns with reports that senior White House staffers, including Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini and other close aides, created a protective bubble around Biden, limiting his interactions and carefully managing his public appearances. LaRosa’s candor underscores the administration’s willingness to prioritize political survival over transparency, even as Biden’s verbal gaffes, moments of confusion, and physical stumbles became increasingly difficult to ignore.

Tapper’s hypocrisy exposed

The timing of LaRosa’s revelations coincides with the release of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, And His Disastrous Decision to Run Again, co-authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper. The book, based on interviews with over 200 Democratic insiders, details the administration’s efforts to conceal Biden’s cognitive struggles. However, Tapper’s newfound criticism of Biden rings hollow given his past dismissals of concerns about the president’s mental state. In 2020, Tapper chastised Lara Trump for suggesting Biden exhibited signs of cognitive decline, accusing her of mocking people with stutters. “How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?” Tapper asked during an interview. “I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody’s cognitive decline.” Tapper’s about-face has drawn sharp criticism, with many accusing him of profiting from a cover-up he once helped perpetuate. “This is like committing a crime and then investigating yourself for that crime,” wrote Collin Rugg on social media.

A legacy of deception

LaRosa’s admission and Tapper’s book highlight a troubling pattern of deception within the Biden administration. Despite mounting evidence of Biden’s cognitive decline, the White House consistently dismissed concerns, labeling them as politically motivated attacks. This strategy ultimately backfired, as Biden’s poor debate performance in June 2024 and a damning report from Special Counsel Robert Hur, which described Biden as a “sympathetic, elderly man with a poor memory,” forced the president to withdraw from the 2024 race. The administration’s efforts to conceal Biden’s decline not only undermined public trust but also raised serious questions about the Democratic Party’s decision-making. By prioritizing loyalty over transparency, Biden’s team gambled with the nation’s future—and lost. Michael LaRosa’s candid remarks and Jake Tapper’s belated exposé reveal a White House more concerned with preserving power than addressing the realities of an aging president. The Biden administration’s gaslighting of the American public represents a betrayal of trust and a failure of leadership.   Sources for this article include: NationalPost.com NYPost.com NYPost.com

cognitive decline coverup Biden Michael LaRosa