‘It was an abomination’: If reelected, Joe Biden would likely be in wheelchair

Concerns about former President Joe Biden’s health grew worse during his time in office, leading to private talks among his staff about whether he might need a wheelchair if he had won reelection in 2024. This information comes from the upcoming book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, which describes a presidency struggling with the physical decline of its leader.

Biden’s worsening physical condition became more noticeable throughout 2023 and 2024. His stiff way of walking, which a Biden spokesperson said was due to wear and tear on his spine, worried people working for him. These worries grew after several public incidents where the president tripped or fell, including a fall at the Air Force Academy graduation and another before a speech about Israel.

Per CNN and Axios, these events and his general trouble moving around led to serious talks within the administration about whether he might need a wheelchair. While using a wheelchair during the campaign was seen as politically risky, it was seriously considered as a possible step if he won a second term.

Joe Biden could have been wheelchair bound if reelected

Biden’s team took several steps ahead of time to reduce the chance of more accidents during the election campaign. These included changing his public appearances to shorten how far he had to walk, adding handrails to stairs, having him wear sneakers more often, and carefully going over routes with him in advance. Staff even began walking with him to Marine One, partly to hide his unsteady walk and partly to be ready in case he fell.

While a Biden spokesperson said his physical changes were just part of aging and did not affect his mental ability, and that he was still fully able to do his job, unnamed sources in the book told a very different story.

These sources claimed that many staff members were kept in the dark about how much the president’s health had declined, and one senior aide said letting him run for reelection was “a disservice to the country and to the party.” A well-known Democratic strategist went further, calling the situation “an abomination” and saying Biden “stole an election from the Democratic party; he stole it from the American people.”

The June 2024 presidential debate made concerns about Biden’s health even worse. His performance was widely seen as weak, causing alarm among both his usual supporters and conservatives, with many calling for him to drop out of the race. The book claims that the president’s mental sharpness was fading, pointing to times when he forgot names and seemed confused when tired.

In the end, Biden left the race in July 2024, giving his running mate, Kamala Harris, less than three months to campaign. The following election resulted in a win for Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.