CNN Star Jake Tapper's New Book Reveals 'Shocking Moment' Joe Biden 'Couldn't Recognize A-List Celeb Who Backed Him for Years'

Jake Tapper is now claiming former president Joe Biden was completely clueless when a massive movie star who had supported him for years approached him.

In his new book Original Sin – cowritten with Axios correspondent Alex Thompson – Tapper notes the time George Clooney was basically a stranger to Biden, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

In one passage of the forthcoming bombshell book, Biden was reportedly so impaired and out of it that he didn't recognize Clooney at the star-filled June 2024 Democratic fundraiser in Los Angeles.

The exchange – or lack thereof – is said to have left the Ocean's Eleven actor "shaken to his core."

"It was obvious to many standing there that the president did not know who George Clooney was," the coauthors write.

A VIP guest also reportedly said of the moment: "It was like watching someone who was not alive. It was so awful."

It may come as no surprise that weeks after the fundraiser, and also following Biden's weak debate performance against Donald Trump, Clooney begged Biden to drop out of the presidential race in a much-talked about op-ed for The New York Times.

He wrote at the time: "We are not going to win in November with this president.

"On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor that I've spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly."

Biden would end up stepping away with Kamala Harris replacing him.

The takedown wasn't received well by Hollywood, especially by Clooney's famous pals.

A source told RadarOnline.com at the time: "George’s name is being yanked off party invites and upcoming projects. No one wants to be seen with a traitor anymore.

"Plus, it looks like Clooney’s coup has failed. Joe isn’t going anywhere, but it looks like George should be the one considering stepping aside. His career, whatever was left of it, is over.”

The 64-year-old, however, would defend his words in an interview with Tapper: "... It was a civic duty. Because I found people on my side of the street, you know, I'm a Democrat in Kentucky, so I get it. When I saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought it's time..."

"You have to take a stand if you believe in it, take a stand – stand for it – and then deal with the consequences. That's the rules," the Oscar winner added.

Also in Tapper's book, 82-year-old Biden's "physical deterioration" was so advanced that "that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election."

According to Tapper and Thompson, Biden also had so many issues speaking he "often couldn't make it through one or two minutes without botching a line or two."

The politician recently had a cancer scare after doctors discovered a "small nodule" on his prostate. A spokesperson confirmed the finding, and responded in a statement: "In a routine physical exam a small nodule was found in the prostate which necessitated further evaluation."

However, the spokesperson reportedly declined to offer any further details on potential treatment.