As Former President Joe Biden second term ambitions began to take shape, top White House aides were quietly planning for a far different reality behind the scenes one that involved the possibility of the 80 something Democrat finishing his presidency in a wheelchair.
A new book by Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN’s Jake Tapper reveals a stunning internal struggle: Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, warned that if the president suffered just one more serious fall, he could face a grueling recovery that would leave him wheelchair-bound. The warning wasn’t hypothetical it was based on repeated stumbles and visible signs of physical decline that marked the final stretch of Biden’s presidency.
While the public was told Biden was in “good health” as late as 2024, the book reports that behind closed doors, O’Connor’s assessment painted a much more fragile picture. The president’s health team reportedly clashed with political aides over how much to limit his public appearances, with O’Connor joking at one point that the staff was “trying to kill him,” while it was his job to keep Biden alive.
The report also alleges that the White House went to meticulous lengths to prevent a catastrophic fall. Staff choreographed Biden’s public movements with floor markers, reinforced stair railings, and even had the president wearing specially designed balance-supporting shoes. Yet even with those measures in place, internal planning sessions considered a scenario in which Biden would run or govern while using a wheelchair.
To make matters more complicated, Biden’s team is said to have brushed aside medical advice from O’Connor and potentially others, including Dr. Kevin Cannard, a neurologist with expertise in Parkinson’s and movement disorders who visited the White House frequently during 2023 and 2024.
All of this unfolded while official reports continued to assure the public that Biden was physically fit to serve. But this latest exposé is fueling fresh concerns over transparency in presidential health disclosures and raising questions about how close America came to seeing a sitting president navigate the highest office in a wheelchair.
