President Biden has reportedly experienced mental decline on multiple occasions the past year and a half, according to sources close to the president.

That suggests his debate flop last week may not have been an isolated incident, said journalist Carl Bernstein.

The 81-year-old president’s inner circle witnessed instances similar to his shaky delivery during the debate with former President Donald Trump, Mr. Bernstein told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday.

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“These are people, several of them who are very close to President Biden, who loved him, have supported him and among them are some people who would raise a lot of money for him,” said Mr. Bernstein, known for his role in exposing the Watergate scandal alongside Bob Woodward in the 1970s.

Mr. Bernstein, 80, said the president’s friends and supporters have noted that Mr. Biden showed signs of cognitive decline on 15 to 20 occasions in the past year and a half.

“What makes this significant,” Mr. Bernstein said, “is how many people around the president are aware of such incidents, including some reporters, incidentally, who have witnessed some of them.”

According to Mr. Bernstein, sources revealed that they informed Ron Klain, Mr. Biden’s former White House chief of staff, about the issues. Mr. Klain was responsible for helping the president prepare for Thursday’s debate.

“We have a problem such as we saw the other night. There have been numerous incidents where the president has lost his train of thought, can’t pick it up again,” Mr. Bernstein quoted his sources as saying.

“What these folks are saying and have been saying for a while is, ‘Yes, he’s great when we see him, as we have tonight. But he also has these inexplicable moments that we’re very concerned about and you, Ron Klain, and the first family, we need to talk about this,’” Mr. Bernstein said.