The White House on Tuesday tried to explain away 81-year-old President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance as just 'a bad night' and the result of a 'cold.'
But in her first briefing since Biden struggled to hold his train of thought during a 90-minute showdown with former President Donald Trump, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had to answer extraordinary questions about whether her boss was suffering from dementia or another debilitating condition.
The tense exchanges show how the issue of a declining president will overshadow the rest of this year's election, as nervous Democrats begin openly calling for Biden to step aside.
'We're not taking away from what you all saw or what the American people saw,' said Karine Jean-Pierre.
'We understand it was a bad night. It is not uncommon for incumbents to have a bad night on their first debate, and we are going to continue to do the work that we have been doing on behalf of the American people.'
Her answers were greeted with incredulity in the White House briefing room as she explained that the president was simply suffering from a cold.
And she was peppered with follow-up questions, asking whether he had taken medication before the debate or whether there was something even more serious wrong with him.
At one point she was asked whether he was 'disabled.'
Another reporter asked: 'I think the American people need to get a yes or no answer on this: Does President Biden, at 81 years old, have Alzheimer's, any form of dementia or degenerative illness that caused these sorts of lapses?'
Jean-Pierre answered: 'It's a no. And I hope you're asking the other guy the same exact question.'
The problem for the White House and the Biden campaign is that Trump emerged as the clear winner of the debate.
Biden looked every one of 81 years, as his answers ground to a halt or rambled into bizarre non sequiturs.
His poor performance has dominated news headlines ever since, triggering panic among Democratic donors who fear his campaign is sleepwalking into disaster.
Questions in the briefing room about what sort of shape Biden will be in at the end of a second term and about dementia will not help.
Jean-Pierre did her best to draw a line under the debate. She painted a picture of a busy president getting on with the job, traveling to Wisconsin later in the week, sitting down for an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, and hosting a solo press conference next week when NATO leaders are in town.
'We want to turn the page on this, and we want to turn the page for the American people as well, because we know that they need to see him out there,' she said.