It's now the battle of the senile in the race for the White House

WHEN Joe Biden launched his 2024 campaign for reelection, the New York Post scoffed, "Americans say... He's already lost it". The notion that the oldest president in US history is suffering from cognitive decline is well-entrenched.

He has fallen off his bike, nodded off at summits, mangled his words and has been using a short, baby staircase on Air Force One after too many stumbles. He needs large-lettered cue cards to stay on message and repeats favourite stories inadvertently. That is just for starters. He will be 86 by the end of a second term in office.

Every gaffe and slip has been recycled on social media and Trump friendly talk shows. The message has got through. A Washington Post/ABC News poll on January 14 showed that only 28 per cent of respondents thought Biden, 81, had the "mental sharpness" to be an effective president, a diagnosis that explains why his approval ratings remain stubbornly in the doldrums. In contrast 47 per cent thought Donald Trump had the mental acuity to serve. Trump may be mad as a box of frogs with a maniacal energy that powers his campaign, but he has not been regarded as doddery or borderline senile. Until now.

Let the battle of the geriatrics begin! Nothing enrages Trump, 77, more than mockery and laughter, much as he loves dishing it out. And Trump, undeniably, has made a series of flubs.

First he muddled up Biden with Barack Obama no less than seven times at various events last autumn, called the Hungarian premier Victor Orban the leader of Turkey, claimed Kim Jong-un of North Korea led a country of 1.4 billion people (did he mean the Chinese president, Xi Jinping?) and appeared to confuse Jeb Bush, the ex-Florida governor, with his brother, former president George W Bush.