Tensions were high at a Hollywood debate watch party on June 27, 2024, when director Rob Reiner lashed out at then-second gentleman Doug Emhoff over President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
A report on the confrontation appears in the new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios.
Reiner is said to have exclaimed that the U.S. could “lose our f***ing democracy,” as a result of Biden’s performance at the June 27 debate against now-President Donald Trump, according to reporting by The Hill. The incident occurred at the home of James Costos, the former HBO executive and President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Spain.
“The gathering had originally been planned as a fundraiser for the Biden Victory Fund, but then the debate was scheduled for the same night, so the hosts turned it into a fancy and hopefully fun debate watch party, with people sitting in three or four different rooms,” the book states.
In addition to Reiner and Emhoff, actor and activist Jane Fonda was also present, in addition to Democratic governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
As President Biden spoke in a weak voice, repeatedly stumbled over answers, misspoke, and lost his train of thought, the evening quickly turned into a “debate watch horror show.”
“A few minutes into it, Reiner, in the main living room, stated plainly: ‘We are f***ed!'” Tapper and Thompson wrote, adding that he “became angry. Soon he was venting, standing, full of fury.”
“He seemed to be looking at Emhoff. Daggers.”
“We’re going to lose our f***ing democracy because of you!” the When Harry Met Sally director is said to have shouted at Emhoff.
“‘Because of me?’ Emhoff thought,” the book states.
CNN reported on the incident a few days after it occurred, but in less detail, noting: “Rob Reiner was screaming about losing and Jane Fonda had tears in her eyes, according to people in the room.”
The first presidential debate of the 2024 election, in which Biden struggled from the get-go and Trump repeated a barrage of lies and misinformation, was watched by 51.27 million viewers.
It sparked “deep panic” among Democrats, to the delight of supporters of Trump, and ultimately led to Biden stepping aside as the party’s nominee in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
On July 10, George Clooney, who just weeks before headlined a star-studded fundraiser that raked in $28 million for Biden’s re-election campaign, penned an emotional op-ed telling his “friend” in no uncertain terms to take himself out of the 2024 race.
After another 11 days of mounting calls for him to step aside, Biden pulled out on July 21, putting Harris, with Emhoff by her side, at the top of the ticket.
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