How Groupthink Protected Biden and Reelected Trump | The Ezra Klein Show

Video Description

This episode is about a seemingly simple question: Was there a Joe Biden cover-up? Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book argues there was. “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” details how Biden’s top advisers closed the circle around him and tried to conceal the extent of his decline. But I think the story here is more complicated. If Biden’s top advisers were misleading the public, I think they were also lying to themselves. And if there was a cover-up, it had a lot of holes; voters had been telling pollsters they were worried about Biden’s age for years. So I wanted to have Tapper on the show to talk about the discoveries in his book, but also about some of the bigger questions raised by the Democratic Party’s decision to almost renominate Biden: How do you see what is right in front of your eyes? How do you avoid letting loyalty to a person or a party blind you? 0:00 Introduction 3:05 The Hur report 14:12 Performing vs. “performing” the presidency 24:35 Who was involved? 35:00 The disastrous debate 45:45 What the Democrats were thinking 57:40 What made Biden change his mind? 1:03:38 Lessons 1:18:39 Book recommendations Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jake-tapper.html Watch more on @EzraKleinShow Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html Thumbnail photo credit: Eric Lee/The New York Times