Original Sin: The Five Communication Sins That Created the Biden Cover-Up

A crisis strategist’s take on the five communication mistakes leaders keep making

Last week, I was on the road speaking about leadership communication. As I boarded the plane in Boston on my way to San Francisco, I started listening to Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.

What immediately caught my attention was the storytelling. Tapper, a long-time CNN anchor, has the kind of voice that’s well-suited for an audiobook (though his Biden impression might need a second take).

Chapter by chapter I was riveted. The insider accounts, the campaign details, the media dynamics. It all made for compelling listening for a newsie like me. However, it was the massive communication failures that stuck with me. Over and over, I kept thinking: How did they get away with this? And for so long?

Communication Breakdowns. One After Another After another.

This isn’t a political post. It’s about the patterns. The kind I see every day in my work: leaders under pressure, then silence and dodging the truth. Ultimately,the trust unravels, and then my phone rings or my inbox pings.

Whether you’re in a room off the West Wing or a boardroom, these are communication failures I observed when listening to a book that revealed the “Original Sin” leading up to the 2024 election.

1. Obfuscation over Honesty

The mistake: Holding back the truth to maintain total control.
The consequence: Delayed fallout, deeper distrust, and the risk of it all falling apart

According to the book, the president’s team carefully choreographed his public appearances. They scripted events, planted questions, and used teleprompters in private homes. Despite the side eyes from donors and democratic leaders alike, the “Politburo” - the tight-knight group of senior Biden advisors - instructed campaign staff to manage the optics, not the reality.

This may have protected the president in the short term, but it undermined public trust in the long term. When people find out you’ve been hiding the truth, they don’t forget. They get louder.

2. Muting the Messenger

The mistake: Shutting down the voices sharing valid concerns.
The consequence: Missed warnings. Diminished credibility.

Staff were sidelined. Reporters were threatened with blacklisting. Even longtime allies were shut out. George Clooney was reportedly cut off after raising concerns about Biden’s mental clarity after the president said, “Thank you for being here,” to Clooney. Clooney was not only the co-host of the 2024 high-profile fundraiser; he’s known Biden for over 20 years.

According to the book, the White House response sounded more like damage control than leadership. Disagreement isn’t disloyalty. And when leaders treat it that way, they create blind spots.

3. Loyalty over Truth

The mistake: Choosing allegiance instead of accuracy.
The consequence: Groupthink. Strategic failure.

White House aides knew something was wrong. They said so privately. But they stayed silent in meetings about Biden’s frailty and cognitive decline. Tapper and Thompson’s reporting makes one thing clear. Loyalty was the tool to enforce silence.

If your team is too afraid to correct you, you’re not getting the full picture. You’re getting the version they think you want, and that version never holds up to scrutiny.

4. Filtered feedback loops

The mistake: Sanitizing data to keep leadership comfortable.
The consequence: Poor decisions based on half-truths.

The book describes internal polling and performance metrics that were altered before they reached the president. Bad news was softened—some removed completely. The public reporting and spin centered on normalcy; a robust Biden, even. The president reportedly believed he was gaining ground in swing states, but the internal data said otherwise.

Once leaders start believing their own edited briefings, it becomes nearly impossible to course-correct.

5. Short-Term Wins Net Long-Term Damage

The mistake: Prioritizing optics over outcomes.
The consequence: A reputation that doesn’t recover.

There were polished ads, viral videos, and carefully staged moments meant to reassure the public. Some carefully staged ads were so worrisome to the Biden’s image that they were scrapped altogether. But the campaign couldn’t sustain it. The truth kept leaking out.

People don’t want perfection; they just want honesty. And when they realize the story isn’t matching the facts, they lose confidence. Sometimes for good.

The Real Issue

The issue wasn’t necessarily Biden deciding to run again, it was the way his team communicated it.

These aren’t just campaign problems. They show up in companies, nonprofits, government offices. I’ve seen them play out in boardrooms, on executive teams, and inside organizations where the public pressure isn’t national, but still very real.

A crisis doesn’t begin when the public finds out. It begins the moment truth gets filtered inside the room.

That’s the signal. Everything after that is noise.

If you're a leader or communicator trying to protect your reputation, remember this:

You don’t manage a crisis by hiding. You manage it by being clear, being early, and being honest.