The collapse of Jill Biden’s memoir “View from the East Wing” from the top of the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list reveals more than a failed book launch. It lays bare the fundamental phoniness that defines the entire Biden family operation.
The book hit #1 on June 21 sporting the dagger (†) the Times uses to denote bulk buys by institutions rather than organic sales from real readers. Within two weeks it had cratered off the list completely. This wasn’t a case of a compelling story resonating with the public. It was a paid-for illusion, with donor money from Joe Biden’s political campaigns redirected straight into Jill Biden’s personal bank account to juice the numbers.
Retail data confirms what the dagger suggested. Circana BookScan tracked a mere 3,221 print copies sold in the week ending June 20, for a grand total of just 29,539 U.S. print sales. For a former first lady enjoying wall-to-wall promotional coverage, those figures are laughably weak.
Nate Silver didn’t need the sales data to spot the fraud. The Democrat-aligned analyst posted on X that the book “debuted at #1 on the NYT due to astroturfed bulk orders (not my opinion — it got the infamous † indicating this) and is now completely off the list 2 weeks later. Very rare for a ‘#1’ to fall that fast. Virtually no one except political reporters are actually reading it.”
The tactic is identical to the one employed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who funneled $1.5 million in campaign cash into buying his own book to manufacture bestseller status. For the Bidens, political donations aren’t for campaigns or causes — they’re a revenue stream for personal branding and enrichment.
This is who they are. Everything about the Biden family is phony. The carefully scripted appearances of normalcy, the claims of fighting for working families while living large off influence, the book that nobody actually read — it’s all part of the same con. They fake success because they can’t achieve it legitimately. The donor-funded bestseller flop is simply the latest proof that their entire brand is built on deception and self-dealing.
In refreshing contrast, Vice President JD Vance’s new book “Communion” currently holds the #1 spot without any suspicious symbols. It got there the old-fashioned way: by appealing to actual readers. While the Bidens manufacture facades, real leaders like Vance deliver substance that stands on its own merits.
