Sources close to Biden report 'marked incidence of cognitive decline' in last 6 months: Bernstein
CNN's Carl Bernstein reported that sources close to President Biden have witnessed "15, 20" incidents that demonstrated his cognitive decline, insisting the debate was not a "one-off."
Anonymous sources reportedly close to President Biden have allegedly witnessed "15, 20 occasions in the last year and a half" similar to what the country saw at last week's presidential debate.
"These are people, several of them who are very close to President Biden who loved him, have supported him and among them are some people who would raise a lot of money for him. And they are adamant that what we saw the other night, the Joe Biden we saw, is not an a one-off, that there have been 15, 20 occasions in the last year and a half when the president has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed," CNN's Carl Bernstein told Anderson Cooper Monday night, referring to the debate.
"And what's so significant is the people that this is coming from, and also how many people around the president are aware of such incidents, including some reporters incidentally who have witnessed some of them," he said.
Alluding to Biden's address to the nation in reaction to the Supreme Court immunity ruling involving the Trump legal cases Monday, Bernstein continued, "But here we see tonight, that, as these people say, President Biden at his absolute best, and yet these people who have supported him, loved them, campaigned for him, see him often, say that in the last six months particularly there has been a marked incidence of cognitive decline and physical infirmity."
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The 80-year-old veteran journalist alleged that the sources he spoke with said that over the past year they warned top Biden ally Ron Klain, who oversaw debate prep at Camp David, that they "have a problem," telling the Biden confidant of instances where the president has "lost his train of thought" and "can't pick it up again."
"There was a fundraiser at which he started at the podium. And then he became very stiff, according to the people there, as if it were almost a kind of rigor mortis," Bernstein said. "This was a year ago almost exactly at the old Four Seasons restaurant on Park Avenue. And he became very stiff and a chair had to be brought for him to do the latter part of the event."
"I think that what these folks are saying and have been saying for a while is, 'Yes, he's great when we see him, as we have tonight. But he also has these inexplicable moments that we're very concerned about and you, Ron Klain, and the First Family, we need to talk about this.' And they've been pushed back repeatedly whenever it's been brought up," he continued.
While Bernstein said his sources insist Biden has been "sharp" in his national security meetings, he suggested the country is "dealing with two sets of one person."
"And it really needs to be explored, according to the people I'm talking to," Bernstein said. "And I think an awful lot of major Democrats believe this, including some who have made statements to the contrary. But this is a problem that's not gonna go away."
Neither the White House nor the Biden campaign immediately responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
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Biden's shocking debate performance has become a political earthquake with wide swaths of the liberal media calling for him to withdraw from the presidential race.
"Mr. Biden has been an admirable president. Under his leadership, the nation has prospered and begun to address a range of long-term challenges, and the wounds ripped open by Mr. Trump have begun to heal. But the greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election," The New York Times editorial board wrote Friday.
However, top Democrats are rallying behind Biden, including former President Obama.
"Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know," Obama said in a statement Friday. "But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November."