Ex-Biden aide says former president was 'fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged' prior to June debate: Book

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain revealed that President Joe Biden was "fatigued, befuddled and disengaged" before his debate with President Donald Trump in June, according to a new book.

"The president was fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged," Whipple wrote, according to the excerpt. "Klain feared the debate with Trump would be a nationally televised disaster."

The debate preparation team then organized two mock debates for Biden. 

"The first was scheduled to last 90 minutes but Klain called it off after 45. The president's voice was shot and so was his grasp of the subject. All he really could talk about was his infrastructure plan and how he was rebuilding America and 16 million jobs. He had nothing to say about his agenda for a second term," Whipple wrote. 

Klain, according to Whipple, said the president was irritable as he pushed back on the former chief of staff's suggestions. 

"25 minutes into the second mock debate, the president was done for the day. 'I'm just too tired to continue and I'm afraid of losing my voice here and I feel bad,'" Klain said, according to the excerpt. "'I just need some sleep. I'll be fine tomorrow.' He went off to bed."

Whipple said in an interview with Politico about his book that many of Biden's closest aides were in a "fog of delusion" about the former president, and calling it a "cover up" did not go far enough. 

Biden's team did not immediately return a request for comment.

Whipple's book is one of several coming out this year about the 2024 campaign, one of the most chaotic and unpredictable election seasons in recent history. 

The Hill's Amie Parnes and NBC News' Jonathan Allen also have a book about the campaign and what led up to the former president dropping out of the race. 

CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson are also releasing a book titled, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," in May.