On Tuesday, the White House attempted to explain away 81-year-old President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance as simply “a bad night” and the result of a “cold.”
But in her first news conference since Biden struggled to maintain his train of thought during a 90-minute standoff with former President Donald Trump, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had to field extraordinary questions about whether her boss suffered from dementia or another debilitating condition.
The tense exchanges show how the question of a fading president will overshadow the rest of this year’s election, as nervous Democrats begin to openly call for Biden to step aside.
“We’re not taking away from what you all saw or what the American people saw,” Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“We understand it was a bad night. It’s not unusual for incumbents to have a bad night in their first debate, and we’re going to continue to do the work we’ve been doing on behalf of the American people.”
President Joe Biden had a disastrous performance in the debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta last week. This has turned the presidential race upside down.
His answers were met with disbelief in the White House briefing room, as he explained that the president was simply suffering from a cold and had no plans to step aside.
And they peppered her with follow-up questions, asking if she had taken cold medicine before the debate (no, she said) or if there was something even more serious wrong with him.
At one point he was asked if he was “disabled.”
Another reporter asked: “I think the American people need a yes or no answer to this: Does President Biden, at 81 years old, have Alzheimer’s, some form of dementia or degenerative disease that has caused these kinds of lapses?”
Jean-Pierre replied: “No, and I hope you’re asking the other guy exactly the same question.”
The problem for the White House and the Biden campaign is that Trump emerged as the clear winner of the debate.
Biden looked 81, but his answers either stalled or wandered into strange non sequiturs.
He was unable to challenge Trump’s exaggerations and falsehoods, and at the end of the 90 minutes his wife helped him off the stage.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to answer questions about whether Biden was disabled or had dementia.
Biden delivered remarks Tuesday after receiving an operational briefing on extreme weather at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s emergency operations center in Washington, DC.
The poor performance has dominated headlines ever since, sparking panic among Democratic donors who fear his campaign is sleepwalking toward disaster.
Questions in the press room about where Biden will be at the end of his second term and about dementia will not help.
Jean-Pierre did his best to end the debate. He painted a picture of a busy president who will get on with her job, travel to Wisconsin later in the week, sit down for an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and hold a solo news conference next week when NATO leaders are in town.
He also confirmed he was holding a virtual meeting with Democratic governors, but did not answer questions about whether it was designed to offer assurances.
“We want to turn the page on this issue and we also want to turn the page for the American people, because we know they need to see it out there,” he said.
Another question is whether it will be enough to calm the growing concerns of donors and strategists.
Several told DailyMail.com they were surprised the president had chosen to go into hiding over the weekend, rather than launching a counter-offensive immediately.
On Tuesday, the private conversations came to light when the first elected Democrats made public their calls for Biden to drop out of the race.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democratic member of Congress to call for Biden to resign.
“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not a decision taken lightly and in no way diminishes my respect for all that President Biden has accomplished,” he said.
“Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not to himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully ask that he do so.”