BIDEN’S BIG BLUFF. Until a week ago, President Joe Biden seemingly had the age issue under control. Yes, he had senior moments, some of which were quite severe, such as the episode at the White House Juneteenth concert in which he weirdly froze for two minutes, silent, eyes fixed straight ahead, body absolutely motionless. But commentary on such moments was mostly confined to a few news outlets. Much of the White House press corps seemed to accept the Biden press handlers’ explanation that the stories were “cheap fakes” created by Republicans to hurt the president politically. It’s hard to understand why any observant reporter would accept such an explanation, but some did.

Everyone knew that polls showed large majorities of voters, including large majorities of Democrats, thought the 81-year-old Biden was not physically and mentally capable of serving as president of the United States for another term, until he is 86 years old. Everyone also knew that the public had fewer such concerns about 78-year-old former President Donald Trump, Biden’s rival in the 2024 election. Nevertheless, with a big assist from the press, the Biden campaign was able to keep the age issue on the back burner.