Wednesday Briefing: President Biden’s Lapses Increase

In the weeks before the debate, President Biden kept up a grueling travel schedule.Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Biden’s lapses have grown increasingly common

President Biden appeared confused or listless in the weeks and months before his devastating debate performance last week, according to many who encountered him.

People who spent time with him — including current and former White House aides, political advisers, foreign diplomats and financial donors — said that the lapses seemed to be growing more frequent, more pronounced and more worrisome.

Biden is apparently not always that way: Many who were with him in the days since the debate have described him as alert, coherent and capable. But by many accounts, Biden is not the same today as he was even when he took office three and a half years ago.

Donald Trump, 78, has shown his own signs of slipping over the years and often makes statements that are incoherent. But while voters have expressed worries about his age as well, their concerns about him have not been to the same degree as those about Biden.

Call to drop out: Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democratic congressman to publicly call for Biden to end his campaign.