Inside the Diplomatic Reception room of the White House, the tone was telling.

A news conference with a US president is typically a calm, controlled affair. Questions to Joe Biden, 81, about his mental sharpness have tended to be isolated and empathetic.

Not last night.

During a hastily arranged 8pm gathering, he faced the aggressive pursuit of a gathered media given legitimate grounds for enquiring into his mental fitness for office.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

For Democrats watching their man at the lectern, it was knuckle-chewing stuff – even before he confused the Mexican and Egyptian presidents in one of his answers.

For this president, it reflects the damage this document could do. Legally, the special counsel’s report offers a (qualified) vindication – politically, it’s touch paper for the discussion he’d rather dodge.

People around the president are continually briefing about his mental sharpness, grasp of detail and suitability for the job.

What would happen if Joe Biden stood down? How the race to be the Democratic Party nominee would unfold

Joe Biden’s critics supercharged with particularly troubling verdict on president’s ‘limited’ memory

‘Elderly’ Joe Biden won’t face charges over classified documents – and he could not remember when he was vice president, report says

The conclusions reached after lengthy sit-downs with the president challenge those assurances.

These findings present a formal framework for discourse around Biden’s frailties that will compound negativity around his campaign.

Repeatedly, opinion polls reflect concern about his age and they are worries shared widely in his own party.

Read more:
What would happen if Biden stood down?
Biden ‘could not remember when he was vice president’

The president’s anger at the report findings is shared by Democrats who point to the author’s Trump connections (Robert Hur was appointed by Donald Trump as chief federal law enforcement officer in Maryland in 2018).

He, and they, are furious at the political commentary presented beyond the legal findings – conscious, clearly, of how it could play into the election campaign.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Joe Biden believes his party needs him to beat Donald Trump. He is fond of the phrase: “You have to have someone to beat somebody.”

The risk for Democrats is that Biden could beat himself because of frailties increasingly exposed.

Related posts:

Fed jolts market as it signals US rate hike could come ‘somewhat sooner’ Around 2,000 evacuate as huge Oregon wildfire torches area larger than New York City Dolphin with prosthetic tail that starred in two films dies ‘Congratulations fellas!’: Biden makes video call to Ireland rugby team after All Blacks win NFL star accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women banned for six games Utah man accused of sparking wildfire while trying to burn a spider NASA’s mission to return humans to moon sees most powerful rocket ever launch into space California earthquake leaves two people injured and tens of thousands without power US interest rates increased despite worst banking turmoil since 2008 US Supreme Court preserves women’s access to abortion pill Man stabbed ‘after repeatedly asking woman for TV remote’ Supreme Court justices sceptical of Trump’s Colorado ban on running for presidency