Readers are more disappointed with than intrigued by Penguin Random House’s decision to publish Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. The book, written by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, seeks to explain the Democratic Party’s loss in the 2024 presidential election.
“What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless — a desperate bet that went bust — and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents,” Penguin Press shared in a press release. “[Biden], his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations.”
Former President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election after the country suffered from the COVID pandemic. Some Republicans blamed then-President Trump’s response to the medical crisis and expressed their disappointment by voting for Biden. The court of public opinion appeared to shift in favor of President Trump in 2024 as some Democrats were dissatisfied with Biden’s response to the Gaza crisis among other things.
“Biden, his family, and his team let their self-interest and fear of another Trump term justify trying to put an at times addled old man in the Oval Office for four more years,” Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson shared when discussing their forthcoming book. “What was the extent of it? Was it a cover-up? Was it a conspiracy? We will let the facts speak for themselves.”
Some readers expressed appreciation for what they believed to be a bold book. Many, however, criticized Penguin Random House for announcing plans to publish Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again less than six months after the 2024 presidential election.
“This is so disappointing,” Lacey of @laceydoeslit shared on Instagram. “It hasn’t even been four months since the election and thinking that this is something the general public needs to read right now is so tone deaf. I love Penguin so much but this is a huge slap in the face.” Jason Frye wrote, “Glad I’m under contract with your competitor.”
Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again comes to bookstores on May 20, 2025.