At Axios, Alex Thompson notes that:

President Biden often uses old-timey expressions that confound even his own staff. That happened again Friday when he ended a speech on gun violence with “God save the queen, man.”

Which is a problem because:

Why it matters: Biden’s quirky aphorisms are sometimes weaponized by Republicans to insinuate the 80-year-old president is in mental decline. But Biden has been using unique phrases for years — but even some of his aides aren’t exactly sure what he means by them.

Ah, it matters because Republicans have “weaponized” the trend, the better to “insinuate” that Biden is “in mental decline.”

Is he?

Bottom line: There are legitimate questions about Biden’s age and stamina as he runs for a second term — but his off-beat proverbs are just Biden being Biden.

Okay. So what are those “legitimate questions about Biden’s age and stamina as he runs for a second term”? Thompson admits here that they exist; he just doesn’t think that Biden’s “quirky” phrases apply. So what does count? Does Axios intend to tell us? Does anyone? Or are we to be treated to a permanent game of deferment, in which journalists acknowledge that, as a general matter, Biden’s age is causing problems, but insist simultaneously that every specific example of those problems either doesn’t count on technical grounds or has been irreversibly sullied by the Republicans’ weaponized insinuations?