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(The Hill) – Former President Clinton said in a Sunday interview that he thought former President Biden was “in good shape” when they spoke recently.
In an interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Clinton said he did not read “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” a book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. But said he never questioned whether Biden was fit to lead.
“No, I thought he was a good president,” Clinton said. “The only concern I thought he had to deal with was, could anybody do that job until they were 86?”
“And we’d had several long talks,” he continued. “I had never seen him, and walked away thinking he can’t do this anymore. He was always on top of his briefs.”
Bill Clinton thought Biden was ‘in good shape’
Clinton also clearly said “no” when asked if he ever noticed signs of cognitive decline.
“So I didn’t know anything about any of this, and I haven’t read the book. I saw President Biden not very long ago, and I thought he was in good shape, but the book didn’t register with me because I never saw him that way.”
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Bill Clinton, founder and board chair of the Clinton Foundation & 42nd President of the United States, left, gives President Joe Biden the “Global Citizen Award” as they clasp hands during the Clinton Global Initiative, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki) -
President Joe Biden, center, on stage with former presidents Barack Obama, left, and Bill Clinton, right, as they participate in a fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) -
FILE – President Joe Biden and Bill Clinton participate in a fundraising event, March 28, 2024, in New York. Biden is again joining forces with former President Bill Clinton to rake in campaign cash, with a joint fundraiser with the two men Tuesday set to raise $8 million part of a $40 million total that Biden’s reelection campaign has pulled in over the last five days. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) -
President Joe Biden, right, and former presidents Barack Obama, left, and Bill Clinton participate in a fundraising event with Stephen Colbert at Radio City Music Hall, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) -
US President Barack Obama (L), Vice President Joe Biden (C) and former president Bill Clinton chat before the start of a memorial service for US Senator Robert Byrd on July 2, 2010 at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. Democratic senator Byrd, history’s longest-serving member of Congress, died on June 28, aged 92. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) -
FILE – President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, left, and former President Bill Clinton, right, pose for a photo with the U.S. World Cup soccer team under the North Portico of the White House in Washington, May 27, 2010. President Joe Biden will share a stage with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on Thursday in New York as he raises money for his reelection campaign. It’s a one-of-a-kind political extravaganza that will showcase decades of Democratic leadership. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) -
U.S. President Barack Obama (C), Vice President Joseph Biden (L), and former president Bill Clinton (R) pose for photographers with U.S. World Cup Soccer Team at the North Portico May 27, 2010 at the White House in Washington, DC. The team will have its first World Cup match on June 12 against England. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
On why he didn’t read the book, Clinton suggested it was a distraction, and a way to blame Biden for Trump’s election.
“I didn’t want to because he’s not president anymore, and I think he did a good job,” Clinton said. “And I think we are facing challenges today without precedent in our history, and some people are trying to use this as a way to blame him for the fact that Trump was reelected.”
