Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declined to answer CNN anchor Kasie Hunt’s question about former President Joe Biden’s evident cognitive decline. Instead, he shifted the conversation, saying he was “looking forward” and launching into an attack on former President Donald Trump.
In the context of the upcoming book Original Sin, which examines Biden’s decline and the efforts of those around him to conceal it, Hunt posed a question that essentially echoed the classic inquiry: “What did you know, and when did you know it?”
“I really do want to ask you about something that has been breaking out of CNN, our Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson have written a book called ‘Original Sin’ and they call it a cover-up of Biden’s health and his cognition and his fitness, quite frankly, to be President of the United States,” Hunt began, noting that Schumer had met with Biden on a number of occasions in the months leading up to the disastrous debate on CNN in late June.
“Did you really not have any idea that he was not fit to serve a second term?” she asked. “Kasie, we’re looking forward,” Schumer replied. “We have the largest Medicaid cut in front of us, we have the whole federal government at risk —”
Hunt interrupted, reminding Schumer that the main premise of the book was that Biden’s apparent lack of fitness—and his insistence on running for re-election—might be the reason the Democrats were facing a second term under President Donald Trump. “We’re looking forward,” Schumer said again, making it clear that he had no intention whatsoever of addressing her question.
In the book, it is mentioned that Schumer met with Biden in Rehoboth Beach after the June debate. During this meeting, Schumer warned Biden that if he did not gracefully withdraw from the presidential race, he was likely to lose to Trump and tarnish his 50 years of public service. It should also be noted that most media outlets and journalists, including Tapper, downplayed or argued against Biden’s obvious decline in a bid to defend him and Democrats.