Jill Biden CBS Sunday Mornings

Jill Biden’s new book was on the New York Times bestseller list until it suddenly vanished this week. Isn’t that strange?

Usually, when a book is a bestseller, it stays on the list for a while. In this case, it fell from 1st place to 3rd and then suddenly just wasn’t there anymore.

This raises serious questions about the actual sales numbers for the book. It reinforces the idea that books like this one get boosted by bulk sales from political groups.

The New York Post reported:

Jill Biden memoir’s disappearance from NYT bestseller list after debuting at top raises questions about sales numbers: ‘Very rare’

Former First Lady Jill Biden’s memoir had a brief run atop the New York Times bestseller list before tumbling out of the rankings just weeks later — fueling online speculation that its lofty debut owed more to bulk book orders than to sustained reader demand.

“View from the East Wing,” which was published by Simon & Schuster’s imprint Gallery Books, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list on June 21 with a dagger (†) symbol indicating that retailers reported some bulk purchases.

By the following week, it had slipped to No. 3, and it has since fallen off the list altogether.

The sharp drop has sparked claims on social media that the 299-page book reached the top through orchestrated buying campaigns instead of real consumer demand.

Former FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver was among the most prominent critics, writing on X that the memoir “debuted at #1 on the NYT due to astroturfed bulk orders” before noting that it was “completely” off the list two weeks later and calling such a rapid decline “very rare.”

Publishing experts caution that the reality is more nuanced.

Conservative talk host Jesse Kelly offered this response to the news.

Writing books is how Democrats get rich. How does this work because nobody wants to buy said books?

They get a huge advance. 6 or 7 figures. Then various communist “non-profits” and other groups buy the books in bulk. It’s a bestseller, but nobody reads it. Rinse and repeat. https://t.co/3orGPMM3hW

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) June 30, 2026

Even liberal poll analyst Nate Silver is talking about this.

It 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. https://t.co/dUU8kswlDN

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 27, 2026

We all know what happened here, don’t we?

This is how Democrats make a quick buck when they’re out of power. Read Jesse Kelly’s tweet again. He pretty much nailed it.

Mike LaChance Mike LaChance has been covering higher education and politics for Legal Insurrection since 2012. Since 2008 he has contributed work to the Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller, Breitbart, the Center for Security Policy, the Washington Free Beacon, and Ricochet. He has also written for American Lookout, Townhall, and Twitchy.

You can email Mike LaChance here, and read more of Mike LaChance's articles here.

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