CBS News reporter Jan Crawford ​​identified the most underreported story of 2024 ​as President Biden’s “obvious cognitive decline.”

“Undercovered and underreported that would be, to me, Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline that became undeniable in the televised debate,” Ms. Crawford said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

She said her verdict should be “unquestioned.”

She mentioned reports from The Wall Street Journal that outlined how hidden Mr. Biden’s mental decline was, even before he was elected in 2020.

“Yet he insisted that he could still run for president,” she said. “We should have much more forcefully questioned whether he was fit for office for another four years, which could have led to a primary for the Democrats.

“It could have changed the scope of the entire election,” she said.

The country had started to take notice of his mental decline, but the worry about his abilities, or lack thereof, wasn’t on the front pages until the June 27 debate against then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Less than a month later, he dropped out and was replaced on the Democratic ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden had some notable gaffes before dropping out, like referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also referred to Ms. Harris as Mr. Trump when talking about picking her as his vice president.

The Journal report outlined how the White House had to adapt “around the needs of a diminished leader.” Meetings, even with some Cabinet secretaries, were happening less frequently than normal. Senior advisers were told to step up and take on roles that should’ve been held by the president.

One person familiar with the circumstances told the Journal that the “hand holding” was unlike anything any other president had.

Officials took note during the first few months in the White House that he couldn’t handle long meetings, and would get tired and make mistakes if they went on too long. Meetings started being catered around when the president was more cognitive, so they would start later in the day. If the president was having a bad day, meetings would be canceled altogether.

Mr. Biden, 82, will be the oldest president at the end of his term. He was already the oldest person to be inaugurated president four years ago when he was 78.

Ms. Crawford pointed out that despite all that, Mr. Biden still said he regrets dropping out of the race because he thinks he could have beaten Mr. Trump.

“I think that is either delusional or they’re gaslighting the American people,” she said.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.