Joe Biden was hit by a brutal special counsel report that painted him as elderly with a failing memory, fans of Trump eager to see him on the 2024 ballot appeared set for victory at the US supreme court, and Trump's only remaining serious challenger in the Republican primary race suffered humiliation at the polls.
Trump could even draw satisfaction from Biden's decision to turn down an hour on national television before Sunday's Super Bowl.
Biden said he wanted to save people, about to enjoy one of the biggest spectacles in American sport, from a lengthy dose of politics.
But few believed that was the real motive during a week in which Biden was officially and devastatingly painted as too old and forgetful to know if he was committing a crime.
Biden had refused the pre-Super Bowl interview before Robert Hur, the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents while out of office, released a report clearing but damning the president.
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