It turns out the debate could have been even worse for Biden.
“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate … I didn't listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage,” said President Joe Biden at a Virginia fundraiser, according to the White House press pool.
Despite his claim, Biden had been back in the U.S. for nearly two full weeks prior to the debate, including a full week at Camp David, where he took daily naps, maintained a light schedule and never started work before 11 a.m., according to The New York Times.
He reportedly apologized for his disastrous performance, but maintained that it was “critical” for him to win the election, adding that his excuse for his poor performance was “not an excuse but an explanation.”
The New York Times reported that those closest to Biden have noticed that he “increasingly appeared confused or listless, or would lose the thread of conversations” and that these incidents are “growing more frequent, more pronounced and more worrisome.”
The recent moments of disorientation generated concern among advisers and allies alike. He seemed confused at points during a D-Day anniversary ceremony in France on June 6. The next day, he misstated the purpose of a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine when meeting with its president.
On June 10, he appeared to freeze up at an early celebration of the Juneteenth holiday. On June 18, his soft-spoken tone and brief struggle to summon the name of his homeland security secretary at an immigration event unnerved some of his allies at the event, who traded alarmed looks and later described themselves as “shaken up,” as one put it. Mr. Biden recovered, and named Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
White House officials have said the president is in excellent shape and that his debate performance, while disappointing, was an aberration. Kevin C. O'Connor, the White House physician, said as recently as February that despite minor ailments like sleep apnea and peripheral neuropathy in his feet, the president was “fit for duty.” He said tests had turned up “no findings which would be consistent with” Parkinson's disease. The White House has declined to make Dr. O'Connor available for questions and did not respond to detailed health questions from The New York Times earlier this year.
The Times' reporting comes from a range of sources including current and former White House aides, political advisers, administration officials, foreign diplomats, domestic allies and financial donors.
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