“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday morning, pointedly eliding the fact that President Biden has already said that he’s not going to end his bid for reelection over concerns about age-related physical and mental challenges. Even more carefully chosen than Ms. Pelosi’s phrasing was the venue: “Morning Joe,” the MSNBC show Mr. Biden likes to watch. And then she urged both the president and other Democrats to table the issue until after this week’s NATO anniversary summit in Washington, which is a moment for the president to bask in the world’s attention and to quell doubts about his condition. At a post-summit news conference scheduled for Thursday evening, the media will be waiting with tough questions on multiple topics. These are the most crucial:
Biden must address these concerns at Thursday’s news conference
Physical strength and stamina
You’ve repeatedly said the debate was one bad night, but insiders say you’ve become increasingly forgetful and struggle to finish trains of thought. People tell stories about your repeating an anecdote in the same meeting. Do you feel like you’re having more bad days than you used to?
At a fundraiser he hosted for you three weeks ago, actor George Clooney said you weren’t the same Joe Biden as you were in 2010 or even 2020. “We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign,” Mr. Clooney wrote in the New York Times. Is he wrong? When polls show 8 in 10 voters say you’re too old to run for reelection, do you recognize why so many feel this way?
National interest vs. self-interest
You told George Stephanopoulos of ABC that you would be able to accept losing to former president Donald Trump in November, “as long as I gave it my all.” Given the stakes in this election — which Democrats have portrayed as existential for U.S. democracy — many found that response puzzling. Sen. Peter Welch (Vt.) on Wednesday became the first Democratic senator to call for Mr. Biden to withdraw, “for the good of the country.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) added: “This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try.” As they say on the Senate floor, would you like to revise and extend those remarks?
Grasp of political reality
You have claimed you don’t buy polls that show you trailing significantly, or that only 37 percent of Americans approve of the job you’re doing. “That’s not what our polls show,” you said on ABC. What do your surveys show that public surveys do not?
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) says Mr. Trump is on track to win, possibly “by a landslide, and take with him the Senate and the House.” Do you disagree? Every president is susceptible to the Washington bubble effect, which makes it easy to lose touch with regular people, and you have been more protected by staff in recent months compared with most of your predecessors. Do you think senior staffers have isolated you too much? Are you hearing enough independent voices and perspectives? Why do you so often rely on teleprompters, even for small events?
Transparency
You say the job tests you every day, but many Americans feel that you’re not passing those daily checks. Why won’t you take a cognitive test and announce the results? How about an independent, comprehensive medical assessment? Why won’t you release your medical records instead of just a summary letter from your doctor? Can you assure the American people you’ve told us everything we need to know about your health? For what reason did a neurological expert on movement disorders repeatedly visit the White House over the past year?
The next four years
You and your campaign have answered questions about your ability to run for a second term by pointing to all that you have undeniably accomplished in your presidency so far. The issue, though, is the future. What makes you confident you will be able to fully perform the duties of the presidency until January 2029 — when you’ll be 86? Do you have a plan for coping with the inevitable challenges of further aging in a second term?
“Time is running short,” Ms. Pelosi said, signaling both that Mr. Biden has not snuffed out the Democratic internal debate over his political future — and that it could, in fact, be coming to a head. The president has a chance to win the argument Thursday, but he’ll have to stand in front of the public and answer, clearly and convincingly, legitimate questions he and his White House have been dodging for months.
The Post will stream video of Mr. Biden’s news conference. Live coverage begins at 5 p.m. Eastern. The president is scheduled to appear at 5:30. Watch here.