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An upcoming book details former President Joe Biden's alleged declining health toward the end of his term in office and the internal discussions between his staff about how to deal with it.Related video above: Biden reacts to election of Pope Leo XIVJake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book "Original Sin" presents several remarkable anecdotes that indicate Biden was struggling much more than the public knew. From shocking memory lapses to mounting physical limitations, the book reports that it was becoming increasingly clear that Biden would be unable to run for reelection faithfully. However, the decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race did not come easily, as Biden and his closest advisors attempted to cover up his health concerns to remain the nominee, according to Tapper and Thompson.“It wasn’t a straight line of decline; he had good days and bad. But until the last day of his presidency, Biden and those in his innermost circle refused to admit the reality that his energy, cognitive skills, and communication capacity had faltered significantly. Even worse, through various means, they tried to hide it,” the authors wrote.Here are some of the biggest revelations to come out so far from the book, which will be released May 20.The claims made below are solely based on Tapper and Thompson's reporting. Hearst Television has not independently verified them.Aides discussed Biden needing a wheelchairAccording to Tapper and Thompson, Biden staffers believed the president would soon need a wheelchair to get around, though he couldn't use one during the 2024 presidential campaign, likely due to optics.“Biden’s physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election,” the authors wrote.Biden's doctors also agreed that a wheelchair would probably be required at some point."Given Biden's age, (his physician Kevin O'Connor) also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery," the authors wrote.Publicly, the president's aides dismissed questions from reporters about Biden's unsteady walk, attributing it to the president not regularly wearing a boot after earlier foot fractures.However, Thompson noted that this explanation seemed at odds with statements from Dr. O'Connor, who had previously said that “both small fractures of his foot are completely healed” and that “this injury has healed as expected.”Dr. O'Connor acknowledged that Biden had “mild post-fracture foot arthritis,” but indicated the primary reason for the change in his gait was “significant spinal arthritis.”A spokesperson for Biden told Axios that a medical examination confirmed his stiffened gait was partly due to spinal wear and tear, though no treatment was required and the condition had not progressed.Concerns about President Biden's physical agility intensified in June 2023 after he stumbled over a sandbag during the Air Force Academy's graduation ceremony, according to Axios.In response, Biden's aides began arranging shorter walking routes for him, encouraged the use of handrails when navigating stairs, and had him wear sneakers more frequently. They also took greater precautions when guiding him in public as the 2024 campaign season gained momentum, Axios reported from the book.Biden didn't recognize George ClooneyAccording to the book, Biden did not recognize George Clooney at a June 2024 fundraiser that the movie star co-hosted with Julia Roberts.Backstage at the fundraiser, Clooney welcomed the president, who had just returned from a three-day visit to Italy for the G7 summit.“You know George,” the assisting aide told the president then, gently reminding him of who Clooney was.“Yeah, yeah,” the president said somewhat half-heartedly. “Thank you for being here."George Clooney," the aide specified."Oh, yeah!" Biden said, according to the excerpt published in The New Yorker. "Hi, George!"Tapper and Thompson write that, “it seemed clear that the President had not recognized Clooney."The president appeared “severely diminished, as if he’d aged a decade since Clooney last saw him in December 2022,” the authors wrote.Video below: George Clooney, Biden supporter and fundraiser, asks president to leave raceThe fundraiser, which raised a record-breaking amount of money, took place on June 15, less than two weeks before the first presidential debate.Tapper and Thompson write that Clooney was “shaken to his core” by the encounter with someone he had known for many years.“It was not okay,” recalled a Hollywood VIP who witnessed the interaction, according to the excerpt. “That thing, the moment where you recognize someone you know—especially a famous person who’s doing a (expletive) fundraiser for you—it was delayed. It was uncomfortable.”Clooney released an op-ed less than a month later, calling on Biden to drop out of the race.According to the book, Steve Ricchetti, Biden’s longtime aide, tried to suppress Clooney's piece.“Ricchetti read it and was furious,” Tapper and Thompson report. “Internally, he threatened to shut Clooney down — some of his colleagues thought he sounded like a Mob boss.”Former Harris, Obama top advisor blames Biden for 2024 loss“We got so screwed by Biden, as a party,” David Plouffe, who helped run the Harris campaign, told Tapper and Thompson.Before advising Harris, Plouffe was former President Barack Obama's campaign manager in 2008 and a senior adviser to Obama throughout the president's first term.Plouffe called Harris' campaign a "rescue mission," stating that Harris was a "great soldier." But, due to Biden's late decision to drop out, Harris' truncated effort was also "a (expletive) nightmare."Plouffe added, "And it's all Biden... He totally (expletive) us."Obama had to help Biden off stage at Clooney-hosted fundraiserBiden joined Obama and comedian Jimmy Kimmel onstage for a Q&A during the June 2024 fundraiser hosted by Clooney.During the half-hour discussion, Tapper and Thompson wrote that many in the audience were "surprised by the President’s apparent diminishment, his quiet and frail presentation, his inability to develop a strong, convincing sales pitch. Some of his answers were downright confusing."At the conclusion of the Q&A, Obama began to walk offstage, but Biden, instead, walked toward the audience and started waving and giving a thumbs-up. Then, he "stopped and stared blankly into the crowd."According to Tapper and Thompson, Obama "just wanted to get the hell out of there, but he didn’t want to leave Biden alone up on the stage."Obama turned back and grabbed Biden’s arm, guiding him backstage.Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, who was in attendance, knew in that moment there was no scenario in which Biden would be reelected, the book reports."We can’t go out there and campaign for 'four more years,'" she said. "That’s just not tenable."Schumer expressed concern about Biden before debateThe same night as the Clooney fundraiser, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer attended a wedding and expressed concerns about the upcoming debate.“Another wedding guest, who sat at Schumer’s table, recalled him saying, ‘If things go south at the debate, me, Barack, Nancy, and Hakeem have a Plan B,’ though Schumer later would deny it,” the authors wrote.According to Tapper and Thompson, Biden and Schumer would often talk on the phone, and during those calls, Biden would sometimes admit he’d forgotten why he’d called.The book also reports that Schumer noted that "Biden talked sluggishly—his voice was not just slower but oddly quieter, reminding Schumer of his mother, who had Parkinson’s."Video below: Sen. Schumer avoids answering on Biden's mental state last year: "We're just looking forward"Bidens dispute book's reportingJoe and Jill Biden have pushed back against the book's reporting, specifically refuting the claims about the former president's health.“The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us, and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day,” said Jill Biden during a joint appearance with her husband on "The View" earlier this month.“I mean, he’d get up, he put in a full day, and then at night he would, I’d be in bed, you know, reading my book, and he was still on the phone, reading his briefings, working with staff. I mean, it was nonstop," she added.Joe Biden said during the interview that he is confident he would have won the 2024 election if he had stayed in the race."I was confident I would beat Trump. He's a loser," the former president said.