MSNBC host questions credibility of Biden cabinet secs who spoke out on president's decline after election

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MSNBC host Eugene Daniels asked on Saturday why anyone should trust the former Biden administration cabinet secretaries who spoke to author Alex Thompson about Joe Biden's decline, noting that they didn't speak out while they were in office. 

"But why should people trust them now, right?" Daniels asked. "Because I don't know who these cabinet secretaries were, but maybe they probably want to work in a different administration. They want to be on K Street. They want to be at some think tank. Why should anyone trust them when they spend all this time - apparently no one got this information - and not telling anybody. Now they have a lot to say."

MNSBC's "The Weekend" spoke with Axios reporter Alex Thompson about his new book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," which he co-wrote with CNN host Jake Tapper. MSNBC co-host Elise Jordan said the quotes from cabinet secretaries about the former president were the most powerful, reading one that said, "Over 2023 and 2024, the circle of people with access to the president grew smaller and smaller. Even the majority of Biden's cabinet members weren't in it."

Thompson acknowledged it was a fair question and said the secretaries felt that if they spoke out, "it was only going to help Trump."

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Jordan, after noting that Thompson included four cabinet secretaries who had concerns about the president, asked Thompson about what it was like getting these cabinet secretaries to speak out. 

Thompson noted that the interviews didn't occur until after the election, but that he had been trying for several years to get them to talk.

"I think a lot of them were scared because they felt that if they spoke out, it wasn't going to get Joe Biden out of the race, and also it was only going to help Donald Trump," Thompson said.

The Axios reporter also described a cabinet secretary he spoke to who was shocked by Biden during a 2024 cabinet meeting and described the former president as incoherent. 

Daniels also asked Thompson to respond to Naomi Biden's, Joe Biden's granddaughter, rebuke of the book. 

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Biden's granddaughter deemed the book "political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class" in a post on social media. 

"I think if you read the book, you will see that the Biden family is a completely cohesive and solid, very loyal clan. And I was not surprised to see that. I would say that I stand, and Jake and I both stand completely behind the reporting. Also, I'd say I think Naomi is a pretty good writer," Thompson said.

Daniels also acknowledged that he had reached out to several former Biden officials to come on their show to defend the president, and they hadn't accepted, before noting Daniel Koh, a former deputy assistant to Biden, would be joining them to respond to Thompson's remarks. 

When Daniels asked about what he observed in the White House with the former president, Koh immediately pivoted to Donald Trump's presidency. 

Jordan asked if he detected any of the behavior described in Tapper and Thompson's book and Koh said, "he's 82 years old."

"I was never concerned about his ability to make the right decision or his team around him making the right decision for the country. And I think that was reflected in the legislation that you were able to see him pass," he added.