Biden had ‘15-20’ episodes of cognitive decline in last year, Carl Bernstein says

Anonymous sources “very close” to Biden allegedly witnessed “15, 20 occasions” over the last year and a half of the president’s mental decline that was put on display for the nation last week, according to legendary journalist Carl Bernstein.

Bernstein — credited with breaking the Watergate scandal alongside Bob Woodward, leading to President Richard Nixon’s impeachment in the 1970s — told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday that sources close to the aging commander-in-chief were no strangers to “that horror show that we witnessed” during Biden’s disastrous debate with former President Trump.

“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,” Bernstein said.

Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein claims Biden’s staffers have witnessed up to 20 ‘marked incidences of cognitive decline and physical infirmity’ in the ailing president in the last 18 months. CNN

“They are adamant that what we saw the other night, the Joe Biden we saw, is not 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.”

Bernstein, 80, said what makes this “significant” is how “many people around the president are aware of such incidents, including some reporters incidentally who have witnessed some of them.”

“But here we see tonight, as these people say, ‘President Biden at his absolute best,’” the veteran journalist said, alluding to Biden’s White House address Monday criticizing the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling in Trump legal cases.

“And yet these people who have supported him, loved him, 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.”

The 81-year-old president’s performance during Thursday night’s debate caused panic throughout the Democratic party.

President Biden during the first 2024 Presidential Debate in Atlanta, GA. CNN

Former President Barack Obama, President Biden, and Jimmy Kimmel during a Democratic fundraiser for Biden’s reelection campaign in June, in which Obama was seen grabbing Biden’s hand to lead him offstage. @chrissgardner/X

Bernstein alleged that his sources said over the past year they had warned Ron Klain — Biden’s former White House chief of staff who helped the president prep for the debate at Camp David — that “we have a problem.”

“We have a problem such as we saw the other night. There have been numerous incidences where the president has lost his train of thought, can’t pick it up again,” Bernstein said.

The former Washington Post reporter recounted his sources telling him about a fundraiser where Biden spoke at the podium before becoming “very” stiff, “almost like rigor mortis.”

Biden wanders while leaders watch a parachute drop at San Domenico Golf Club on June 13, 2024, during day one of the 50th G7 summit in Fasano, Italy. Reuters

“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,” Bernstein told Cooper.

“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.”

Bernstein claimed his sources have “been pushed back repeatedly whenever it’s been brought up.”