Former CNN political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson tore into former first lady Jill Biden for her forthcoming memoir, branding the tome “an act of supreme selfishness” and accusing her of helping conceal concerns about her husband’s fitness for office as he sought re-election.
In a blistering Bloomberg Opinion column published Friday, Henderson argued that Biden’s new book, “View From the East Wing,” confirms longstanding suspicions that she privately recognized signs of former President Joe Biden’s decline while publicly defending his ability to serve another term.
“With her memoir, Biden has essentially confirmed the speculation that she was part of a cover-up,” Henderson wrote, noting the former first lady publicly insisted that her husband was fit to serve another four years while privately questioning his health and capacity to lead.
The veteran political journalist, who spent years covering presidential campaigns and the White House before joining Bloomberg Opinion, seized on newly published excerpts from the memoir that detail the chaotic aftermath of Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate against President Donald Trump.
According to excerpts first published by The Atlantic, Jill Biden feared her husband might be suffering a stroke as she watched him struggle through the debate.
“Is this a stroke?” she recalled thinking as Biden delivered rambling answers onstage.
She also wondered whether he had somehow been “drugged” and worried that viewers would assume the performance reflected how he behaved behind closed doors.
For Henderson, those admissions undercut years of public assurances from Biden allies that concerns about the then-president’s age — he was 81 at the time of the debate — and cognitive abilities were overblown.
The Bloomberg columnist also highlighted Jill Biden’s acknowledgment that the former president “was definitely aging” while in office and battled fatigue as well as lingering pain from a foot injury that never fully healed.
Despite those concerns, Jill Biden still maintains in her memoir that the debate performance did not reflect her husband’s day-to-day condition.
“There is no reason to believe Jill Biden’s most recent public version of events,” Henderson wrote.
The former CNN reporter noted that Americans voiced concerns about Biden’s age long before the debate, citing polling showing widespread doubts about whether he was capable of serving another four-year term.
“The debate only underscored what Americans had been telling the Biden cohort for years: that the president was no longer up to the task,” Henderson wrote.
One of the most striking scenes described in the memoir comes immediately after the debate, the then-president described as turning his wife and saying, “I really f–ked up, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did,” Jill Biden replied, according to the book.
Henderson argued that the exchange further undermines attempts to portray the debate as an isolated bad night.
The Bloomberg columnist reserved some of her sharpest criticism for what she described as the Bidens’ determination to remain in power despite mounting concerns about the president’s condition.
“In their arrogance, privilege and self-important recklessness, the Bidens held on to power as long as they could,” Henderson wrote.
She argued that Biden’s decision to remain in the race left Democrats unprepared when he ultimately withdrew and contributed to Trump’s return to the White House.
Henderson also pointed to passages in which Jill Biden acknowledged that the president privately considered serving as a one-term “bridge” to a new generation of Democratic leaders and discussed whether to seek reelection.
The scribe contended in her column that the former first couple failed to develop a viable succession plan despite growing evidence the former president was struggling under the demands of running the country.
“If the former first lady cared about the future of her party or her country, maybe she would have waited until after the midterms to dredge up all that went wrong for Democrats in 2024,” Henderson wrote.
The column concludes with a scathing assessment of Jill Biden’s legacy.
“What will history make of First Lady Jill Biden?” Henderson asked. “Did she serve her husband well? Did she serve the country well?
“The answer to both questions is no.”
The Post has sought comment from Jill Biden.
