All the ways the White House tried to hide Biden's condition from the press

President Joe Biden 's debate performance was shocking to many Americans because his inner circle have spent years making sure he doesn't act his age. For three and a half years, aides concocted a careful plan to hide the 81-year-old's ailments, and are now the center of widespread allegations they have covered up his decline. But their effort came to a calamitous halt on Sunday when the 81-year-old Biden spectacularly announced he was withdrawing from the presidential race. The strategy included carefully picking where walks, choosing shoes to stop falling, surrounding him with staff, shortening his schedule so he gets more sleep and giving him props. He still stumbled, mumbled, got confused, fell on stage and down stairs. In turn, the White House press shop got creative with excuses to explain what was happening in plain sight.