The book has not yet been released, but it has already shaken the US like a bombshell: apparently, Joe Biden's physical and mental state during his presidency was worse than the White House has allowed to be understood, writes ARD.
American journalists Jake Tapper from CNN and Alex Thompson from the Axios portal have conducted over 200 interviews with Democrats and people from Biden's entourage, as a result of which Tapper summarizes things with the words - there were two Bidens. "One had things under complete control. But the other one was no longer functioning - he could not remember the names of his closest associates and often looked disturbingly confused. The latter increasingly displaced the former."
Wind in the sails of the right
For example, Biden, who is now 82 years old, did not recognize his longtime friend - Hollywood star George Clooney - at a charity ball, ARD reports.
This is wind in the sails of the right, the German public-law media continues. "I'm glad that everything is now coming to light - we've been talking about this for six years", says Fox News commentator Joe Concha. At the same time, he criticizes other media outlets for ignoring the problem. Jake Tapper himself - based on the information collected - says that he informed about Biden's health condition, but not enough.
"Brain turned into applesauce"
The book reveals that Biden's entourage made efforts to cover up Biden's severe physical and mental breakdown. His then-spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre repeated, as if incantation, that Biden was in excellent shape as ever. But Fox News commentator Joe Concha spoke of a threat to national security - with a president who is responsible for the nuclear code, whose brain has turned into applesauce.
Democrats: "We are not looking back"
Democrats seem to be at a loss as to how to react to the situation, ARD points out. Regarding Joe Biden's health, Democratic Representative Jim Syburn said he had no idea, he had no medical training. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries commented: "We're not looking back, we're looking forward".
The strategy is clearly to just not talk about Joe Biden, writes the German public-law media outlet. But he himself does not stop talking - he gives interviews, appears on television shows, including with his wife Jill. Last week, Biden said on ABC that the accusations against him are false and unfounded.
Biden also emphasizes that he did not withdraw from the presidential race for health reasons, but because he wanted to prevent a split among the Democrats and put the country above his personal interests.
Author: Nina Barth (ARD)