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The Protective ‘Politburo' That Hid Biden's Decline

The Protective ‘Politburo' That Hid Biden's Decline

The Atlantic24-05-2025

Washington Week With The Atlantic
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson discuss their new book, Original Sin.
By
On a special edition of Washington Week With The Atlantic, CNN's chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper and the Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson joined Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss Original Sin, their new book about when Joe Biden started showing signs of decline—and how some people behind the scenes questioned his fitness to serve as president.
In the four months since Biden left office, a consensus seems to have emerged that the former president's bid for reelection all but guaranteed Donald Trump's return to power. 'There was the fine Joe Biden … and then there was the nonfunctioning Biden,' Tapper said last night. 'And the nonfunctioning Biden would rear his head increasingly and more and more disturbingly as time went on.'
'Now the question is,' Tapper continued, 'when did the nonfunctioning Biden emerge so often it was a real question as to whether he should serve for president?'
To see Tapper and Thompson discussing this and more with Goldberg, watch the full episode.

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Rubio says U.S. is ready to meet with Iran after strikes, warns closing Strait of Hormuz would be "suicidal"
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Rubio says U.S. is ready to meet with Iran after strikes, warns closing Strait of Hormuz would be "suicidal"

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Rubio declined to say whether the U.S. would take military action if Iran closes the strait, or whether the U.S. would consider attacks on oil facilities by Iran's proxy militias as direct acts by the regime: "I'm not going to take options away from the president, that's not something we're talking about right now in terms of being immediate." Rubio said closing the strait would affect the U.S., but it would have "a lot more impact on the rest of the world," particularly on China. "That would be a suicidal move on [Iran's] part, because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that," Rubio said. Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former head of U.S. Central Command and a CBS News contributor, said the U.S. would be able to clear the strait if Iran lined it with underwater mines. "The Iranians do have the capability to mine the Strait of Hormuz. We have very good plans to clear that if we had to do it. 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