After June’s disastrous debate, it became clear to the American public that President Biden was in cognitive decline. How long has he been in decline, and who was running the most powerful office in the world in his place?

From Daily Caller. With President Joe Biden’s time in office winding down, dozens of those close to his operations over the years told The Wall Street Journal how aides insulated the 82-year-old and handled his responsibilities as concerns of his fitness increased.

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President-elect Donald Trump’s domination of the news cycle since winning the 2024 election has allowed Biden to fade from the national politics scene. But since the 82-year-old dropped out of the presidential race, questions about his physical state, how long the president had been declining and how it was being handled, have remained unanswered. The WSJ interviewed nearly 50 people who have been close to Biden throughout his administration and they detail how staff handled cabinet officials, presidential responsibilities and campaign events.

Biden, who was often prone to gaffes and having an unsteady gait, was typically trailed by aides, Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams, while participating in events, according to the WSJ. Those aides tried to stay within ear shot or eye distance of the president over the years, often giving him “basic instructions” like when to leave and exit the stage in an event, the outlet reported.

Aides also adjusted the president’s schedule to start his meetings later in the day as the 82-year-old was typically not his sharpest in the morning, some sources told the WSJ. Sometimes, the meetings were reportedly scrapped all together if Biden was having an “off day.” …

Over the years, some lawmakers saw aides and senior advisers acquire roles that they believed the president should’ve been handling, the WSJ reported. Some cabinet officials, according to the outlet, said they frequently dealt with the president’s advisers rather than the 82-year-old himself. …

When it came to getting directive from the president, former senior cabinet aides told the WSJ that a “top-down” approach was used. Rather than discussing policy and direction with the cabinet officials, the White House would issue directives for each agency, the WSJ reported. It was a system that made it hard for the cabinet officials, the sources told the outlet, “to discern to what degree Biden was insulated because of his age versus his preference for a powerful inner circle.” …

Rather than meeting with Biden (who held nine cabinet meetings in four years), cabinet members typically met with the president’s advisers …

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(Excerpt from Daily Caller. Photo Credit: Tabrez Syed on Unsplash)