Former President Joe Biden’s relentless dependence on a teleprompter, even in front of tiny groups of elite donors, sparked months of complaints from frustrated supporters, according to a new book chronicling the 2024 campaign.
Biden’s reliance on the teleprompter highlighted growing concerns about his mental fitness, supporters and donors revealed.
In the book “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” authors Josh Dawsey (Wall Street Journal), Tyler Pager (New York Times), and Isaac Arnsdorf (Washington Post) report that Biden rarely spoke in public without assistance from a teleprompter.
He even used it at private fundraisers where donors expected unscripted access.
“For most of the campaign, Biden only ever spoke with the assistance of a teleprompter, even for small private audiences,” the book states.
“The presence of the machine made for extremely awkward interactions in intimate settings, and irked donors who had paid thousands of dollars for a personal view of the president, not expecting a canned speech they could see on TV.”
The authors described one particularly awkward moment:
“He once read from a teleprompter in front of thirty people in the open kitchen of a Palo Alto mansion,” they wrote.
Donors “complained for months” after the event.
Aides defended the use of the machine as a necessity “to keep the famously garrulous president on schedule.”
The book, released Tuesday, underscores what many critics, including President Donald Trump, had been pointing out throughout Biden’s campaign: that the 46th president was visibly deteriorating and unable to handle the rigors of the office without heavy staff intervention.
Just days after Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate performance against Trump, a moment many Democrats now describe as the collapse of his candidacy, he attended a campaign stop at Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-VA) home.
In a rare break from routine, the campaign opted to remove the teleprompter.
As a result, Biden spoke for only six minutes.
“At Beyer’s house, the campaign was eager to prove Biden could speak off the cuff,” the book states.
“There was no teleprompter to be found.
“The president blamed his poor debate performance on a heavy travel schedule and said he ‘almost fell asleep onstage.’”
The word “teleprompter” appears a dozen times throughout the book, with much of the discussion focusing on how White House staff and campaign handlers worked to tightly control Biden’s environment, avoiding unpredictability and reducing his public exposure.
“The officials who planned events at the White House tried to avoid any surprises or unpredictable situations,” the authors write.
“If the president was going to speak, he would go to the podium, deliver remarks from a teleprompter, and leave.
“There was no room for creativity or spontaneity.”
After Biden tripped and fell at a 2023 commencement ceremony, staff reportedly went into damage control mode, creating detailed contingency plans to prevent further public stumbles.
“Everyone could see the president was aging,” the book continues.
“He sometimes failed to recognize former staff at functions.”
Despite mounting concerns, aides insisted the president’s decline was merely “physical,” even as they increasingly limited his access to others and kept meetings small.
Biden entered the 2024 reelection cycle dogged by doubts about his mental sharpness.
Those doubts intensified following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s February 2024 report.
Hur declined to prosecute Biden over his mishandling of classified materials.
He described the then-president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
The moment that shattered the Democrat wall of denial came during Biden’s debate with Trump in June 2024, when he appeared lost, confused, and struggled to maintain coherence, prompting widespread calls within his party for him to step aside.
After weeks of insistence from the White House that Biden would remain in the race, the 81-year-old incumbent bowed out in July 2024.
He announced on social media that he would not seek reelection and endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris entered the race with just over 100 days to mount her own campaign.
However, she failed to consolidate the base or build momentum, ultimately paving the way for Trump’s decisive victory.
The new book lays bare what conservative critics long suspected: that Biden’s handlers built an artificial campaign around a declining president, reliant on scripting, staging, and avoidance, until reality and voters caught up with them.
READ MORE – Democrat Fundraiser Blows Whistle, Exposes ‘Puppet Masters’ Who Ran Biden Administration
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