A former senior aide to the Biden-Harris Administration has accused the administration of “gaslighting” Americans by downplaying concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and dismissing polls showing weak support within his own party during his 2024 reelection campaign.
Michael LaRosa, who served as press secretary to First Lady Jill Biden for years, told Puck News on Wednesday that the president’s team lived in “denial” of mounting public skepticism, a misstep that fueled Biden’s political downfall after a disastrous debate performance last summer.
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LaRosa, reflecting on his tenure from the 2019 campaign through Biden’s presidency, admitted that age was a persistent “issue” the administration couldn’t shake. “From the moment I joined the campaign in the fall of 2019, it was a problem,” he said. Yet, he claimed Biden’s inner circle was “scared to death” of letting the former president engage in unscripted settings.
“The president’s team was scared to death of impromptu, unscripted, unrehearsed, unpracticed, unchoreographed anything,” LaRosa told Puck News. “They couldn’t compete in the attention economy. They didn’t have any idea how. And they didn’t have the vessel in Biden, who would have done anything. He loves TV. He loves doing stuff. It was the orbit that didn’t trust the candidate.”
Despite public and Democratic unease over Biden’s cognitive fitness—he turned 82 in November 2024—the White House consistently brushed off such concerns as exaggerated or unfounded. LaRosa, however, suggested this was a deliberate gloss-over, though he stopped short of calling it a full “cover-up.”
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“Every politician, every human being, tries to cover up their age. We all wear makeup on TV,” he said. “Calling it a cover-up is a little harsh and exaggerated. So we were always, from day one, cognizant that age was an issue.”
The cracks widened after Biden’s June 2024 debate against President Donald Trump, where his faltering performance intensified voter worries and triggered a cascade of Democratic calls for him to exit the race.
“Biden needed the press, but when he needed the press the most, they didn’t trust him,” LaRosa said. “And then the press put their foot on the gas and never took it off, and he was politically dead in a month.”
Biden withdrew in July, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump in November.
LaRosa pointed to a broader failure to heed warning signs, particularly polling data from 2023 showing Biden’s shaky standing.
“There are some things that are true, like the gaslighting,” he said. “There was a lot of denial of the polling. All of the polling in the spring of 2023, and then the fall of 2023, showed that there was no real depth of support from his own party, let alone independents and Republicans.”
He noted Biden’s tight race with Trump—despite the latter’s legal battles—as a red flag the administration ignored. “The fact that he was so close was always a problem, but they were kind of in denial.”
Post-election reports from other Biden aides, cited in recent media accounts, have painted a picture of a frail and weary president in his final months, reinforcing the narrative LaRosa now echoes.
His candid remarks offer a rare insider glimpse into a White House grappling with a leader’s limitations and a campaign that couldn’t adapt, ultimately paving the way for Trump’s return to power. As Democrats reckon with their 2024 loss, LaRosa’s revelations fuel an ongoing debate over transparency, strategy, and the cost of underestimating public perception.
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