We speak to CNN's Jake Tapper on the “cover-up” behind Joe Biden’s decline

The fallout from Joe Biden’s failed presidential campaign continues with a new book that accuses senior White House figures of covering up the former president’s “physical deterioration”.

The author, Jake Tapper - who co-authors the book with Alex Thompson of Axios - claims Biden did not recognise George Clooney at a fundraiser last June hosted by the Hollywood star and that at one stage of the campaign, aides discussed putting him in a wheelchair.

A spokesperson for Joe Biden said "evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity" and maintained the Democrat had been "a very effective president".

Why does Jake Tapper believe that there was a cover-up of the president’s condition, and does the American media need to take some responsibility for how they reported Biden’s campaign?

HOST:

- Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter

GUEST:

- Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent, co-author of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again

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This episode was made by George Dabby, Purvee Pattni, Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Philip Bull. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on the World Service. Oh, and by the way, you can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say ‘”Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from special guests, including Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Department for Homeland Security during the Trump presidency before becoming a whistleblower. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

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