Members of President Biden's staff noticed his fading stamina and increasing confusion within the first few months of his term, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal based its report on interviews with nearly 50 people, including current and former White House staffers who interacted directly with the president, as well as lawmakers.
One former aide recalled a national security official explaining why a meeting in the spring of 2021 was canceled altogether.
"He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow," he recalled the official saying.
Democratic lawmakers in Congress reported that Biden was less available than past presidents. He had few meetings with members of Congress, and those meetings were often brief, they said.
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"The Biden White House was more insulated than most," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told the Journal. "I spoke with Barack Obama on a number of occasions when he was president and I wasn’t even chairman of the committee."
"I really had no personal contact with this president. I had more personal contact with Obama, which is sort of strange because I was a lot more junior," Rep Jim Himes, D-Conn., echoed.
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Even members of Biden's own Cabinet soon stopped requesting calls with the president, perceiving from interactions with staff that calls were unwelcome, WSJ reported.
A source familiar with the Journal's reporting said the outlet had on-record interviews with a number of Cabinet members who rejected claims that Biden lacks mental acuity. Those Cabinet members included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and EPA Administrator Michael Regan and others, the source said. The Journal did not include their comments in its report.
Biden held fewer than half as many full Cabinet meetings as his most recent predecessors. President-elect Trump held 25 such meetings and former President Obama held 19 in their first terms, but Biden had just eight.
The White House pushed back on the substance of the Journal's report in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, saying Biden's policy accomplishments provide "indisputable proof" of his qualifications and leadership.
"President Biden speaks with members of his Cabinet daily, and with most members multiple times a week, staying in close touch with them about implementation of key laws and strengthening our national security. During every presidency, there are inevitably some in Washington who do not receive as much time with whomever the president is as they would prefer; but that never means that the president isn’t engaging thoroughly with others, as this president does," said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.
"Cabinet meetings are an important tradition, but the contemporary work environment means they can be fewer and far between. As academics who study the presidency have emphasized, every member of the Cabinet – to say nothing of the President – are busy principals and more can be accomplished on behalf of the American people speaking with the President one-on-one or in smaller settings with officials who have related portfolios," he added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cabinet officials and their departments, asking them if they believed Biden was fit to serve this week, and if they stood by past statements of confidence in his ability to continue.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a statement in September, said that he has "full confidence in President Biden’s ability to carry out his job.
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"As I’ve said before, I come fully prepared for my meetings with President Biden, knowing his questions will be detail-oriented, probing, and exacting. In our exchanges, the President always draws upon our prior conversations and past events in analyzing the issues and reaching his conclusions," he said.
On Monday, DHS said that the secretary stands by those comments.
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has called Biden "one of the most accomplished presidents in American history and continues to effectively lead our country with a steady hand."
"As someone who is actually in the room when the President meets with the Cabinet and foreign leaders, I can tell you he is an incisive and extraordinary leader," Raimondo said.
A spokesperson said this week that Raimondo stands by those comments.
Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, told Fox in September: "As Secretary Austin has said before, he has watched President Biden make tough national security decisions and seen his commitment to keeping our troops safe – he has nothing but total confidence in our Commander-in-Chief."
This week, Singh said those comments still stand.
