WH insider details long-running plot to hide Biden's decline

Though Kamala Harris' ascension to the top of the Democratic Party presidential ticket is already a fait accompli, many remain shocked by the sudden nature of the shift and are still asking questions about how President Joe Biden's true condition was kept out of sight for so long -- that is, until it could no longer be hidden.

According to former White House insiders, the plot to disguise Biden's decline was detailed and long-running, a scenario some have likened to a cover-up in which Harris was arguably complicit, as the Daily Mail reports.

Elaborate scheme precedes electoral exit

Though Biden's ultimate departure from the 2024 presidential race came largely due to the backlash that followed his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump, it now appears that his deficiencies had become clear to those around him well before.

The Mail outlines the many techniques staffers used to minimize exposure of Biden's frailties, methods described to the outlet by a former aide to the president.

Limitations on media access to Biden in unscripted environments was one of the more noticeable steps taken by staffers in recent months, but that tactic was by no means the only one employed.

Biden was also instructed to begin using a shorter flight of steps when boarding Air Force One as a means to prevent trips and falls, and aides began surrounding him as he walked to his presidential helicopter to help hide the 81-year-old's shuffling gait.

In addition, Biden began to wear specialized sneakers meant to reduce his risk of stumbles, and staffers routinely prepared notecards outlining even the most basic stage directions for public events.

Strategy backfires

The former aide who spoke to the Mail took no pride in the measures taken by colleagues to prevent the American people from seeing the truth about the commander in chief, declaring, “I always thought that it was the people around him that were going to be his downfall.”

According to the insider, those who took part in the ruse played a foolish game with the media by “waging an unnecessary war of choice with an entire industry that shapes public perception” and limiting journalists' access, particularly throughout the latter part of his administration.

“The problem is when you hide him, or when you limit his ability to engage and communicate, people are not conditioned to seeing him. So his mistakes and his age are amplified,” the source added.

Unfortunately for the millions of voters who still support him, Biden has remained largely in the shadows since Harris' coronation, appearing briefly at last week's Democratic National Convention before heading off to vacation in California.

According to the Delaware News Journal, after departing the Golden State on Sunday, the president and first lady were headed straight to their property in Rehoboth Beach, surely prompting many to wonder why, since the jig is up in terms of his mental and physical decline, Biden does not just resign from office already and formally enter into a permanent vacation once and for all.