Several former Biden officials — including longtime loyalists — say “View from the West Wing: A Memoir” attempts to shift blame for Democrats’ devastating 2024 election loss while avoiding accountability for President Joe Biden’s failed reelection bid and concerns about his mental and physical fitness.
“I just wish they would give some more time and space and let people move on,” one former Biden official told reporters. “It all feels so disingenuous.”
Another former aide said the book follows a familiar Democrat pattern after the 2024 defeat.
“The throughline between her book and Kamala Harris’ is that they blame everyone but themselves for the loss,” the former official said.
The criticism comes as both Joe and Jill Biden prepare to release books and as the former president reportedly plans to make appearances ahead of the November midterm elections. Many Democrats, however, have shown little interest in revisiting the Biden years.
A major source of frustration is Jill Biden’s latest account of her husband’s disastrous June 2024 debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump.
In the memoir, Jill Biden writes that she feared her husband may have suffered a medical emergency during the debate.
“Is this a stroke?” she recalls thinking. “I felt like we were watching an AI hologram of the man we knew, and the hologram was glitching.”
The revelation has sparked accusations that she is attempting to recast her role after publicly defending her husband at the time.
Following the debate, Jill Biden praised the president’s performance at a campaign event, telling him, “Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question, you knew all the facts.”
Former Jill Biden spokesman Michael LaRosa accused the former first lady of trying to “change the tape” regarding her reaction to the debate.
“They’re trying to change the tape in people’s minds about who she is,” LaRosa said, arguing that her recent comments differ sharply from how she responded publicly in the immediate aftermath.
Former aides also took issue with passages in which Jill Biden questions whether she may have missed signs of her husband’s decline while simultaneously insisting he remained capable of serving another term.
One former Biden campaign aide called the Bidens’ post-presidency conduct “selfish.”
“The Bidens preached selflessness and service above all, and every decision they’ve made since he decided to run for reelection has been about themselves,” the aide said. “The only people undermining President Biden’s legacy are the people closest to him.”
Even Andrew Bates, one of Biden’s most loyal former spokesmen, expressed anger over the 2024 loss and questioned why the issue needed to be revisited publicly.
Meanwhile, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, who’s considering a 2028 run for president, blasted Jill Biden over her admission, accusing her and Democrat leaders of dismissing legitimate concerns about the president’s condition.
“That really bothered me,” Smith said during a radio interview. “At that time, his wife comes out, and she applauds his effort and says he was wonderful.”
