"Special counsel report paints scathing picture of Biden's memory," blared the Washington Post. "Biden mixes up presidents of Mexico and Egypt in speech defending memory," added the Guardian. The Atlantic's Helen Lewis suggested Biden should step aside and let Democrats nominate for president someone who is "able to finish a sentence."

But following a reprimand from the White House, the media appeared chastened. Pundits disparaged the special counsel, Robert Hur, accused Biden's critics of ageism, and insisted the president's elderliness is "his superpower." At the same time, experts emerged to explain that it's impossible to assess Biden's mental acuity from afar and, anyway, everyone forgets things and Biden's critics are ageist.

It was a sharp change from the standard of a few years ago, when the media helped to diagnose then-president Donald Trump with all kinds of disqualifying brain problems. Journalists matched Trump to various entries in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, neurological disorders, and whatever Hitler had.