Joe and Jill Biden are re-emerging from their post-White House life to hit back against a spate of new books revealing embarrassing details about the former president’s declining health.
Their first big joint stop will be an interview on ABC’s The View on Thursday morning but the former first couple have other options they are considering, including a massive deal to publish their tell-all memoirs.
Biden is already hard at work on his own tome about his White House years, writing at his home office in Delaware and his post-presidential office in Washington D.C.
But a joint book deal for the couple could land them $30 million, insiders told the Daily Mail.
The offer, however, is contingent on Jill, who, experts say, could be worth $15 million alone.
Jill Biden kept a dairy during her White House years, so she has plenty of memories to draw upon – and the family could use the money.
‘She could write a very explosive book if she wanted to,’ a former White House aide told the Daily Mail.
Joe and Jill Biden are plotting their comeback after exiting the White House – above the couple in the Oval in July 2024 after the then-president explained to the nation his decision not to seek a second term
The former first lady, however, would be required to reveal what she saw happen in regards to her husband’s mental health, the hours after his disastrous presidential debate with Donald Trump, and the details behind his decision to exit the 2024 race.
And that could be the holdup.
Jill Biden is her husband’s biggest defender, and, while a book of her own would allow her to shape the family narrative on a tour to promote it, she would be grilled about reports she covered up his decline.
Any publisher would want all the behind-the-scenes details, particularly for a seven-figure deal.
There could be another way for her to deliver.
A fan of Prince Harry’s infamous tell-all ‘Spare,’ the former first lady could go scorched earth on those high-profile Democrats who turned their backs on Joe Biden.
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The list of people she could target is long and distinguished: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, George Clooney, Chuck Schumer and all the other Democrats who privately and publicly urged Biden to step down.
And she has long been said to have a grudge against Kamala Harris.
Her thoughts on the actions of the party’s powerful, along with details about the family’s discussions surrounding the 2024 presidential campaign, could make for a powerful best seller.
‘She’s his grudge-holder for sure, and there are definitely plenty of people she will never talk to again, but it’s unlike her to take public swings at specific individuals or lay blame. It’s just not her style. That’s what is going to sell books, though,’ a former Biden aide said.
There is a greater issue at play however: money.
While $30 million is about half of the $65 million advance Barack and Michelle Obama received for their memoirs, that amount could go along way in helping out the Biden family.
Hunter Biden is around $15 million in debt from his legal fees from several federal cases, along with lagging sales of his art and his memoir, sources told the Daily Mail.
The family could use the income. They were never wealthy to begin with and offers have not poured in post-presidency.
‘Given the financial state that her son is in and the lack of interest in paid speaking engagements for both of them, they could be forced to think twice about her personal and specific they get in their books,’ a former aide said.
No final decision has been made by the Bidens. Biden’s post-presidency office did not respond to request for comment.
President Joe Biden left viewers stunned during the June 27 presidential debate as he stared into space and fumbled for answers
Hunter Biden is said to be $15 million in debt from his legal fees, above Hunter and wife Melissa Cohen at federal court in Wilmington, Del., in June 2024
Two massive books are looming over the Bidens’ heads: both of which promise new details about Joe Biden’s decline.
Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, comes out May 20th.
Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf have their book – 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America – coming out on July 8.
In all four books about those final Biden White House years will be out by summer’s end. Authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes book Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House and Chris Whipple’s book Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History, are already out.
Some of the new information they reveal is eye-opening, particularly when it comes to what aides knew about the president’s health and the actions they took to conceal Biden’s condition from the public.
But the Biden pushback also has begun.
It’s an uphill climb for those loyal to the former president. The June 27th debate, where Biden struggled and fumbled as Trump stood by, changed the public perception of him.
The sight of the 80-year-old commander in chief pausing to gather his thoughts and find his words sent shockwaves through the country. It led to his downfall.
Jill Biden was there for it all. She was in a room in Atlanta, just a few feet from the debate stage as her husband had an on-air meltdown.
She was with the family at Camp David after the debate, where they huddled to discuss ways to deal with the fallout.
And she was with Joe Biden at their beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he was recovering from COVID and ultimately decided to step down as the Democratic nominee.
Many of the Biden’s long-time loyal aides, who defended him repeatedly in the White House, are rallying around him once again.
After journalist Alex Thompson won a prestigious award from the White House Correspondents’ Association for his coverage of Biden’s health, some former White House aides went online to criticize him.
‘Not a great look hawking a book based on a false premise while accepting an award based on the same false premise,’ former Biden aide Chris Meagher wrote on X. ‘Yes, Biden was old, but that’s a lot different than an allegation of mental decline that kept him from being able to do the job, which there is no evidence of.’
Thompson replied: ‘Some Biden people don’t want you to buy the book. Read it and make up your own mind.’
There have long been reports of tensions between Jill Biden and Kamala Harris
George Clooney, Joe Biden, Julia Roberts & Barack Obama at a Los Angeles fundraiser – Clooney would later say it was this fundraiser where he got concerned about Biden’s health
Jill Biden has always been Joe Biden’s biggest defender
Meanwhile, Dawsey, Taylor and Arnsdorf report in their book that ‘top White House aides debated having [Biden] undergo a cognitive test to prove his fitness for a second term but ultimately decided against the move,’ per an excerpt that ran in The New York Times.
More juicy details from both tomes are expected to emerge in the coming days.
The Bidens are fighting back themselves.
In addition to the joint appearance on ABC’s The View on Thursday, Jill Biden accepted a role with the Milken Institute to work on women’s health issues.
And Joe Biden did a sit down with BBC News, his first post-presidency interview. He was asked about his decision to remain in the 2024 contest for as long as he did.
‘We had become so successful in our agenda it was hard to say now I’m going to stop now. I meant what I said when I started, that I’m preparing to hand this to the next generation, the transition government. But things moved so quickly, and it made it difficult to walk away,’ he said.
‘It was a hard decision,’ he admitted.
‘I think it was the right decision,’ he said and then paused for several seconds to gather his thoughts before noting: ‘It was just a difficult decision.’