Carl Bernstein, the former Washington Post reporter and current CNN political analyst, said on the air Monday that he has heard from sources “very close” to President Joe Biden who say that his poor debate performance last Thursday was not a rarity.
As concerns about the president’s age and fitness for office mount, Bernstein told AC360 anchor Anderson Cooper that his sources “are adamant that what we saw the other night—the Joe Biden we saw—was not a one-off,” and “that there have been 15, 20 occasions in the last year, year and a half, when the president has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed.”
Bernstein explained, without naming names, that the identities of those who have expressed concerns carries weight.
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“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.
“But here we see tonight, as these people say, ‘President Biden at his absolute best,’ Bernstein continued, alluding to Biden’s White House remarks Monday condemning the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. “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.”
Bernstein’s sources, he added, have mentioned this to Ron Klain, Biden’s former White House chief of staff who had been helping prepare him for the presidential debate.
At the same time, Bernstein noted, he has heard from the same sources that Biden continues to be “sharp” in matters pertaining to national security.
“There is no question, I have heard for two years how sharp Joe Biden is in his national security meetings. He has special briefing books on Ukraine, on the situation in Gaza, that go down into very detailed military reports. He has an absolute command of the facts. He is sharp as can be. You see the evidence of his having been chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, of his work as vice president on foreign relations,” Bernstein said.
“So we‘re clearly dealing with two sets of one person and it really needs to be explored, according to the people I‘m talking to. 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 going to go away, unless it‘s explicable. Does this mean doctors’ reports? I mean, obviously it would be great if we could have real doctors’ reports from both candidates. Well, that’s not going to happen.”
In the past few days, those calling on Biden to bow out of the race include The New York Times editorial board, the editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, Biden’s childhood friend and neighbor Jay Parini, and some supporters. A fair number of Democratic lawmakers have also expressed doubts about his candidacy—albeit anonymously to the press.
Biden has given no indication of suspending his campaign.
