The question isn’t whether Trump or Biden is declining faster: it’s why the US is faced with this choice | Emma Brockes

Both men - 78 and 81 respectively - have behaved in ways that might give even the most cautious observer pause

No election involving Donald Trump can be considered normal, but, in among all the breaches and oddities of this uniquely strange presidential race, one stands out as stranger than others. That is: speculation as to which of the two presidential candidates is showing the greater and more alarming rate of mental decline.

Until recently, this topic was considered at best unsporting, at worst dangerous - particularly on the left, where it is assumed that discussions around age will hurt Biden more than Trump. Even Trump, however, has benefited from certain delicacies governing the subject of impairment. During his first run for president, when the words narcissist" and borderline personality" first started to be bandied about, plenty of mental health professionals popped up to steeple their fingers and point out it is neither polite nor judicious to diagnose others based on zero clinical information.