A new book has revealed that former U.S. President Joe Biden used makeup regularly to conceal signs of ageing, and Vice President Kamala Harris’s team had a contingency plan in place in the event of his death while in office. These revelations come from Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House, written by The Hill’s Amie Parnes and NBC News’s Jonathan Allen.
++ Keir Starmer calls for decisive action on migration amid growing concerns
According to the book’s excerpts, Biden frequently met with a makeup artist before Zoom calls and while travelling, to cover up the visible effects of ageing. Despite regularly scheduling these sessions, Biden sometimes cancelled the follow-up briefings with aides. The book suggests that his use of makeup was part of a broader effort to maintain a youthful appearance during his presidency.
Additionally, the book details the contingency plans that Harris’s aides had in place if Biden were to pass away while in office. This included a spreadsheet listing Republican judges whom Donald Trump had not appointed. The idea was that if Harris had to be sworn in at short notice, a judge from this list could perform the ceremony, one whom Republicans would find credible but who was not aligned with Trump’s camp. Harris was reportedly unaware of this plan until the aide who had prepared it left in early 2023.
++ Westminster city council moves closer to buying 368 temporary accommodation properties
Concerns about Biden’s age — he was 82 when he left office — became more pronounced during his re-election campaign. Worries intensified after a poor debate performance against Trump in June 2024, prompting some Democrats to call for him to step aside in favour of a younger candidate. Ultimately, Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris, who went on to lose the presidency to Trump.
