That seems to be about the best Biden can do these days, and he certainly is trying. But the question remains: can the campaign keep doing this? An appearance every week or two where the president appears not insane but not especially good or competent?

Unfortunately for Biden, where 50 million watched his debate and millions more saw clips of it afterward, merely getting by is not good enough. Having seen him fall flat in June, each stumble from now until November will confirm to the people what they already know. Biden has zero room for error. Any politician would find that daunting.

The substance of the often comparative interview last night focused mostly on Biden’s opponent. After the shooting, Biden addressed the nation and called for greater calm and civility. The “political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated,” Biden said a day earlier. “It’s time to cool it down.”

Holt asked if Biden’s own rhetoric had added to the heat. The constant accusations that Trump’s election would be an end of democracy, and other extreme claims. “I have not engaged in that rhetoric,” Biden told him. Calling out the dangers of Trump was his responsibility. The rhetoric for the other side, the “F— Joe Biden” chants — that, the president said, was the true inflammatory speech. We needed to come together to stop that sort of thing.

The thought process was muddled and lacked introspection, but that’s not all that uncommon in a campaign. The thing about a call for unity is that the person calling for it doesn’t want to change his views — he wants you to change yours.

Biden challenged Holt and the press to talk about what they “should be” talking about — the issues, preferably framed in the way most favourable to Joseph R. Biden. He seemed affronted that this was not happening already, and it’s understandable. Democrats aren’t used to getting hard questions from the press — this President more than most.

Biden may have hoped that the attempt on Trump’s life would shift the attention of the masses away from his own decrepitude. Maybe it is the only thing that could have. And it may work, for a few days, while the RNC is in session, while people are caught up in the nomination  of J.D. Vance for vice president. But that ends this week and problems like Biden’s don’t go away — not overnight, not ever.

Next week will be another political lifetime. When the attention turns back to Biden, the shooting and its aftermath will have only made things worse. The contrast between Trump — vigorously pumping his fist after nearly being murdered on stage — and Biden — a frail old man who seems unsure of himself even in a quiet conversation with a single member of the press —  speaks to people in a way that party platforms and white papers never can.

The people have seen with their own eyes both men, unscripted, in difficult moments. One more passable interview by Biden only prolongs the agony.