His aides are throwing shade at him because he has polling, not cognitive problems. They’re afraid he’ll lose. At this stage in 2020, he was ahead of Trump by double digits. Biden’s now level or lightly behind. The final polls overstated Biden’s actual victory margin by 4 points. In other words, the current neck and neck polling means Biden might actually be behind by 4%.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2020/trump-vs-biden
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-biden
ONLY 4%?? That in itself is shocking due to his abhorrent performance at running the country.