During a recent episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher, Jake Tapper, and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) discussed the cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline and why Democrats didn’t pull the plug on Joe Biden’s reelection bid, even as it became increasingly obvious that his cognitive health was deteriorating. The conversation offered a rare on-air glimpse into the internal dysfunction and fear that led the Democratic Party to double down on a deeply flawed candidate.
Bill Maher floated the idea that First Lady Jill Biden may bear more responsibility than most people are willing to admit. “I feel Jill Biden’s getting the Yoko treatment,” he said, likening her to Yoko Ono, who was infamously blamed for the breakup of The Beatles. “And maybe she deserves it,” Maher added, though he was quick to note that blaming one person is too simplistic.
CNN’s Jake Tapper—the co-author of the book that has brought the discussion of Biden’s cognitive decline to the mainstream media—pushed the discussion further, pointing out that “there are any number of people that were part of this decision to hide how bad it was. Not only from the media, not only from the public, but also from cabinet officials, from people in the White House, from Democratic lawmakers.” He noted that during 2023 and 2024, Democratic members of Congress “barely saw the President,” a damning detail that confirms just how insulated Biden had become.
Tapper also named names: Jill Biden, Hunter Biden, and the president himself. “President Biden has some agency here too. We’re not saying it was ‘Weekend at Bernie’s,’” he joked. “He was aware what was going on…. He can talk for 10, 15 minutes and be fine,” Tapper said, suggesting Biden had enough lucidity to play the part when needed.
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But Maher zeroed in on another reason Democrats stuck with Biden for too long: the party’s obsession with personal narrative over practical politics. “They were too romanticized about the fact that he had a lot of tragedy in his life,” Maher said. “So every time something bad would happen, they were like, ‘Oh, he’s so resilient,’ when they should have said, ‘This dude is bad luck.’”
Tapper offered a different theory. He argued that fear of Trump played a key role in suppressing any discussion of Biden stepping aside. “Democrats perceived him to be an existential threat to the world, and only Joe Biden had ever beaten Donald Trump, therefore he had to be the nominee again,” Tapper explained. “Any word that deviated from that was helping Trump.”
Moulton agreed, saying, “That was a criticism about me…. If you go and criticize Biden, you’re just helping Trump.” He pushed back on the myth that Biden was the only option, saying, “The idea that he was the only person in America who could beat Trump is ridiculous. We have an incredibly talented party.”
Ultimately, Maher’s theory feels more like a clever soundbite than a serious explanation, while Tapper’s assessment hits closer to the mark. Yes, it’s more than a little rich coming from Tapper—a man who played his part in downplaying Biden’s decline and is now conveniently cashing in with a tell-all book—but that doesn’t make his point any less accurate. At the end of the day, Democrats aren’t driven by loyalty to individuals—they’re driven by a relentless loyalty to their own political power.
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