Chris Whipple, the author of President Joe Biden’s biography, “The Fight of His Life,” told CNN on Wednesday that the White House only allowed him to interview Biden through written questions, a requirement the writer said surprised him.

Whipple joined CNN anchor Abby Phillip, Wall Street Journal reporter Emily Glazer, and Vanity Fair correspondent Brian Stelter for a segment on the president’s apparent mental decline and his future as the Democratic Party’s nominee. The discussion on CNN aired as Democrats on hold meetings on Capitol Hill to discuss how the party will move forward in the wake of Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump and calls for the president to end his re-election campaign.

“The thing to understand here is the DNA of this White House is controlling the narrative,” Whipple said. “And I can tell you having written a book about it that this White House is the most battened-down, buttoned-up, scripted White House in modern history.”

“So while I was able to interview in real-time almost all of Joe Biden’s inner circle, when it came to Biden himself, the deal was written answers to written questions,” Whipple added. “I’d never heard of that before.”

Phillip asked Whipple if that requirement raised a “red flag” for him.

“Well, you can look at it in two ways,” Whipple replied. “This is obviously a White House either with something to hide or just obsessed with controlling the narrative.”

“It’s a little bit surprising, a little stunning … you’re writing a biography of the president and he wouldn’t talk to you over the phone, over Zoom, anything like that,” Phillip said.

Whipple’s biography of Biden was published in early 2023, well before Democrats and the legacy media began to question the president’s physical and mental capabilities. Whipple’s latest revelation seems to contradict the synopsis of “The Fight of His Life” on Amazon, which states that the author had “remarkable access to both President Biden and his inner circle.”

Whipple is also known for his book “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency,” which detailed the inside baseball of administrations from Reagan to Trump.

The author dropped another revelation during his segment on CNN, saying that “one of the president’s closest friends thinks that Joe Biden should go up to Walter Reed [Medical Center], have a complete neurological exam, release the results, and let the chips fall.”

“I don’t think that friend has said this out loud to Joe Biden,” Whipple added. “Because that’s a hard thing for a close friend to tell him.”