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Would anyone really believe him if he took a test and said “I’m fine” in a televised speech? He’s still officially running for the position. And an address from the White House which doesn’t allow for any questions is not going to be nearly as reassuring as people think it would. A speech can be recorded when Biden is at his most able to be replayed in the evening. It can be heavily edited to hide speech flubs, pauses, and word salads. Hell, the only reason we detected the problem in the debate is because it was an unscripted event that happened after 4pm where he couldn’t simply memorize and deliver a speech to a camera with the option of cutting anything that doesn’t sound right. Anything short of that wouldn’t convince most people.
If he’s really okay, I would expect a press conference with live Q&A held in prime time for at least half an hour. It would prove to people that he can actually think on his feet, answer questions, and understand the questions asked. Holding such an event after 4 would show that he’s not sundowning as has been reported. If he can’t do that (and keep in mind he hasn’t done a lot of press conferences thus far in his presidency) then there’s no reason to believe that he’s capable no matter what spin they put on it.
And as I said before, I think the fact that the Democratic Party is breaking ranks on Biden’s cognitive decline is very telling as they would not be doing this if they expect him to be able to continue. They’re basically own-goaling with every such rumor and statement. If he does continue, these attacks will be front and center in Trump’s campaign. In fact, these rumors are so damaging that basically if the republicans are smart, they’ll just campaign by playing these messages and doing nothing else.
Never underestimate the ability of Democrats to take a feckless middle stance that's the worst of all worlds.
Publicly asking if your candidate is capable of running when the public already has questions about his age isn’t feckless middle of the road stuff. It’s making it impossible for Biden to even consider continuing even if he’s mentally fine because his own side is publishing story after story in the press asking if he has dementia.
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