In a copy of “Original Sin, President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” obtained by ABC News, authors and journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson allege that former President Joe Biden hid information about the cancer diagnosis of his late son, Beau Biden, who was an elected official at the time.
Not only do the authors claim that this misled the public about Beau Biden’s mental fitness, they also say this demonstrates “the Bidens’ capacity for denial and the lengths they would go to avoid transparency about health issues.”
Released Tuesday, this new detail comes just days after Joe Biden’s aggressive prostate cancer was announced.
Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis was announced Sunday via statement from his office. According to the statement, he was seen by medical professionals “last week” for “a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” and “on Friday, he was diagnosed.”
Beau Biden, left, son of Democratic vice presidential nominee, and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., wave to the crowd at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado August 27, 2008.
Yoon S. Byun/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
“Original Sin” claims that Joe Biden and Beau Biden falsely touted Beau’s “clean bill of health,” intentionally choosing to say “nothing” despite being aware of his glioblastoma diagnosis and how advanced it was.
In the summer of 2013, Beau Biden collapsed during a family vacation and underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor.
“Beau’s tumor was definitely glioblastoma. Stage IV,” Biden later wrote about the postoperative findings, according to the book. The authors say Joe Biden’s other son Hunter Biden called it “a death sentence.”
Beau Biden’s neurologist told the public that doctors had removed a “small lesion” from his brain, but it was in fact a “tumor slightly larger than a golf ball,” Biden later revealed, according to the book.
The book also alleges that Beau remained in office as Delaware’s attorney general, a position he held from 2007 to 2015, despite displaying signs of deterioration such as speech difficulties and “secretly” undergoing treatments around the world where he checked in under an alias.
In a statement released Tuesday, a Biden spokesman said, “There is nothing in this book that shows Joe Biden failed to do his job, as the authors have alleged, nor did they prove their allegation that there was a cover up or conspiracy. Nowhere do they show that our national security was threatened or where the President wasn’t otherwise engaged in the important matters of the Presidency,” a Biden spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News reacting to the publication of “Original Sin.”
“In fact, Joe Biden was an effective President who led our country with empathy and skill,” the statement added.
The authors say Beau Biden’s wife Hallie publicly questioned this apparent cover-up, allegedly telling others that “she didn’t understand why they had to keep his illness a secret.”
ABC News is attempting to reach Hallie Biden for comment.
Vice President Joe Biden (C) and his wife Dr. Jill Biden (R) arrive with family for a mass of Christian burial at St. Anthony of Padua Church for there son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, on June 6, 2015 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Mark Makela/Getty Images
The book goes on to claim that Beau Biden’s death and the emotional toll it had on the then-vice president demonstrated the “first signs he was deteriorating” in 2015, citing a senior White House official that described Joe Biden’s brain as seeming to “dissolve like someone poured hot water” immediately after Beau’s death.
“Original Sin” has additional allegations against Biden and his mental fitness during his presidency, including details about his physical and mental impairments and alleged efforts to cover those impairments up.
In an appearance on ABC’s “The View” earlier this month, both Biden and former first lady Dr. Jill Biden pushed back against the slate of new books from reporters claiming that Biden was dealing with cognitive decline at the end of his presidency.
“They are wrong,” he said. “There’s nothing to sustain that.”
-ABC News Averi Harper, Oren Oppenheim and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.