Sources tell Woodward Biden struggled to speak, focus more than a year before leaving race

A new book by famed Watergate journalist Bob Woodward features claims that President Biden struggled to complete sentences and stand at fundraising events more than a year before he withdrew from the presidential race.

Woodward’s new book, "War," quotes multiple people who alleged they witnessed Biden’s senility firsthand at various fundraisers and other events. Among the claims were that Biden looked "frighteningly awful" and like a "senile grandfather" during some of these appearances.

Woodward quoted Liberties Journal President Bill Reichblum, who remarked on Biden’s mental state at a fundraiser held at the home of prominent philanthropists Michael and Susie Gelman in June 2023.

According to Reichblum, Biden "never completed a sentence" at the event. 

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Bob Woodward's new book details witness accounts of President Biden's alleged senility from more than a year before he stepped down from his re-election campaign.  (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

"He would start to talk about something, jump somewhere else. He told the same story three times in exactly the same way and it meandered so much," Reichblum was quoted saying. "Frankly, my impression was there were times it was as though we didn’t exist. He was just rambling and talking as to what came into his head."

Biden announced his decision to withdraw from his re-election campaign in late June following a disastrous debate appearance against former President Trump where he appeared feeble and stumbled while speaking. 

Prior to the debate, many of Biden’s allies in the Democratic Party media had defended his cognitive ability and disputed those who claimed he didn’t have the mental acuity to run for office. Woodward’s book detailed how several of Biden’s top aides did not acknowledge his cognitive challenges until after the debate. 

However, his book also revealed that other prominent Democrats and liberals recognized Biden’s problems well before party leaders recommended he end his campaign. 

Biden "could not wait to sit down and only took two pre-arranged questions," one witness – a Democratic Party donor at a Silicon Valley fundraiser hosted by Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott in June 2023 – was quoted saying in "War."

At the same fundraiser, witnesses alleged that Biden struggled to focus on giving his speech even while having notecards to guide him.

The author quoted one anonymous guest who described Biden, writing, "It was ‘like your 87-year-old senile grandfather,’ wandering around the room, saying to women guests, ‘your eyes are so beautiful.’"

However, Woodward also quoted venture capitalist Steve Westly who called the president "energetic" and said he "wouldn’t sit down for two hours" at a second event that same day.

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Woodward quoted one witness who said Biden looked like a "senile" grandpa during a fundraising event more than a year ago. (AP)

Woodward’s book also included the accounts of people who attended a Biden campaign fundraiser at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City that same month and noted Biden’s struggles.

According to these attendees, Biden struggled to remember the word "veteran," and resorted to asking the audience for help in referring to a person who "served in the military."

Other witnesses described Biden talking with guests as "painful."

Woodward also quoted an anonymous Hollywood executive who at one point told the president directly, "You’re f------ up your campaign. Every time you get out and walk, people think ‘old.'"

Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.