In his first public appearance since his prostate cancer diagnosis announcement, former President Joe Biden made a series of comments about his mental and physical health in an attempt to challenge concerns raised in the book “Original Sin,” written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson.

During the event, Biden responded to questions concerning his fitness for office with defiance and what liberals are trying to justify as an attempt at humor by quipping, “I can’t walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” referring to Tapper and Thompson.

He then went on to make mention of his cancer diagnosis, expressing confidence in his health and ability to bounce back. The comments were partially aired on television, but CNN quickly cut away from Biden, likely in an effort to save face for Tapper and his co-author.

Tapper’s book alleges that the inner circle around the former president worked tirelessly to keep his declining mental and physical health a secret from the public while he was serving as president. This extended into the beginning of his re-election efforts as well.

The book pulls data and information from 200 interviews, showing instances of the cognitive and physical challenges Biden had and suggesting that the decision to run for a second term was due to those around him believing he was the only person who could beat Donald Trump in 2024.

Both authors build a case that this decision and the efforts to conceal his health problems had major negative consequences for the Democratic Party and the outcome of the presidential election.

Tapper himself has come out and acknowledged his own shortcomings in reporting on the health of the former president. However, the release of the book has not led to an increase in ratings for his television program.

He experienced the lowest ratings for his show following the book’s release since August 2015. Tapper drew in only 525,000 viewers from April 28 to May 25, which is a 25 percent decrease year-over-year.

It only captured 11 percent of the cable news audience for its time slot, falling far behind rival Fox News at 68 percent and MSNBC at 21 percent. For the all-important 25-54 demographic, Tapper only pulled in 95,000 viewers, a decrease of 15 percent from the previous year.

CNN as a whole has experienced its second-worst month in the history of the network in this demographic.