White House brushes off question on how Biden would handle nuclear attack at night

The White House side-stepped questions Tuesday about how President Joe Biden would handle a late-night nuclear attack.

Biden, 81, has faced growing questions about his health and ability to lead after a troubling debate performance.

Fox News journalist Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday how Biden would handle a nuclear attack after 8 p.m. after the president said he was sharpest before that time.

Jean-Pierre said a team informs the president about any news relevant to the American people. She said the president's National Security Council would break such news to the president.

Doocy also asked if first lady Jill Biden was making decisions for the president. Jean-Pierre said the president makes his own decisions.

"The president is the president of the United States. He makes decisions," she said.

Biden is seeking reelection against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Biden has shown visible signs of decline throughout his presidency, which were punctuated by Special Counsel Robert Hur's final report on his investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House following his term as vice president under Barack Obama.

Hur declined to charge Biden, but his report highlighted Biden's trouble remembering things, including the year his son died.

"In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden's memory was worse," according to the report, as The Center Square previously reported. "He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended ('if it was 2013 - when did I stop being Vice President?'), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began ('in 2009, am I still Vice President?')"

The report continued:

"He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him."

Since the debate, when Biden repeatedly stuttered and faltered, and at times became incoherent and trailed off, many Democrats have stepped forward calling for him to step aside from seeking reelection.