This week’s covers

We had one worldwide cover in print this week, about the growing pressure on Joe Biden to abandon the race for the White House. Unusually, we also had one extra digital cover. This was our take on the outcome of the British election, which was determined after we went to press. 

Mr Biden had planned for the presidential debate on June 27th to prove his critics wrong about the decline in his mental abilities, and so to revive his ailing campaign. Instead he struggled for 90 agonising minutes to recall words and facts and was unable to land arguments against a weak opponent. It was a catastrophe.

Mr Biden is blameless for his failing powers, but not for the cover-up that followed the debate. Abetted by his family, senior staff and Democratic elites, the president has insisted that he is still up to the world’s toughest job. The folly behind that falsehood became the central thrust of our argument.