[T]he debate around Biden’s age and mental acuity was on hold, according to more than a dozen Democratic sources who requested anonymity to speak openly about a sensitive topic, which no one wanted to touch in the hours following the shooting.
While the conversation around whether or not Biden should withdraw dominated the headlines and created a seemingly endless news cycle over the past two weeks, Democrats from lawmakers to donors quickly fell silent on the issue.
“This is not the time,” one Democratic donor, who has expressed reservations about Biden in recent days, said. “That’s not to say it won’t come back in a few days or next week. But it would be incredibly insensitive to have the debate on Biden right now.”