(NewsNation) — Former President Joe Biden still believes he would’ve beaten President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election if he had stayed in the race, according to a new book.
Journalist and author Chris Whipple released “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History” on Tuesday, which pieces together the behind-the-scenes of President Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaigns and Trump’s victory.
“It was the wildest campaign in political history, but behind closed doors, let me tell you, it was even wilder and stranger than that,” Whipple said on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
“The truth is that Biden’s closest advisers were trapped in a kind of fog of delusion and denial,” he added.
The book details the preparation before Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump, which ultimately was the death knell to his chances of a second term.
Whipple regaled a story of how during the preparatory time at a Camp David predebate, Biden wandered off and collapsed into a poolside chair and fell asleep.
Despite this, those in Biden’s camp still believed in his presidency.
“Despite what they could all see with their own eyes, the inner circle really convinced themselves that Biden could run, that he could win and that he could govern for another four years,” Whipple said.
That sentiment was shared by the former president, according to Whipple.
“One of his best friends told me that depending on what day of the week it is and whether he’s seen Trump on TV that night, he looks in the mirror and he says, ‘I could have beaten that blanking guy.’ He’s not sure that [Biden will] ever accept it in his lifetime.”
