Joe Biden seems to be on a permanent vacation. He's spent almost 40 percent of his time in office on vacation. Even when he's at "work," he often has a very light schedule and calls an "early lid" to the day. 

In August, Biden was away for most of the month, and when he did speak, it seemed like he was getting worse, with even more incoherence and confusion, and now more instances where he appears to zone out. 

I reported on Tuesday about a new AP/NORC poll that indicates 77 percent of Americans think he's too old for a second term, and even 69 percent of Democrats thought that. The most common responses to what word would describe Joe Biden were “old,” “outdated,” “retire,” “elderly,” “aging,” “senile,” and “dementia.” That's a very bad look, not just for someone running for office but, more importantly, for the guy who is supposed to be running this country. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was grilled about Biden and the poll. AP reporter Chris Megerian asked if the White House has plans to "demonstrate" how Biden is going to do the job and quiet voters' concerns. 

.@ChrisMegerian to KJP: "A new AP poll asked Americans an open ended question on...[Biden] & the most common response has to do with his age...Does this WH have additional plans to demonstrate that he can continue to do the job at his advanced age and allay...concerns?" pic.twitter.com/ebqM5BDHsY

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 28, 2023

Jean-Pierre's response ducked the question, basically repeating his answer to "watch him" if people have any doubts. 

"Look, I appreciate the question. I get it often, as you know," Jean-Pierre responded. "What I would say, and I've said this many times and many of my colleagues have said this, the president says this. If you watch him, if you've seen what he's done in the last two years, this is a president who has had a historic administration in just two years."

The problem, of course, is that Americans have been watching him -- that's why they see the problems and that's why they have the questions. But the White House ducking the question isn't doing anything to assure people going forward. 

Not only that, but then Megerian asked her about the press spotting Biden going into the Oval Office with his personal physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, shortly before the briefing. 

AP's @ChrisMegerian: "The press pool spotted the President walking into the Oval Office with this personal physician, Dr. O'Connor, a few moments ago. Did--is there an appointment? Did he have an immediate health concern?"

KJP: "This is the 1st time I'm hearing of that." pic.twitter.com/wH4sdRCKJq

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 28, 2023

"Is there an appointment? Did he have a health concern?" he asked.

"This is the first time I'm hearing of that," Jean-Pierre said. "Clearly, I did not see that—so I can't speak to that. I just don't know."

Jean-Pierre evading that query raises even more questions. If it had been a scheduled regular check-up or something like that, one would think that she would have known. The fact that she doesn't and professes not to have been told about it raises a lot of questions. And if she does know why and just doesn't want to answer, that's even more problematic. If they can't be straight about why the doctor was there, then you know it's likely because there's a problem, and they don't want to be transparent. Is he receiving any treatment on these vacations? Is the doctor addressing more of these issues that we're seeing? The more they duck it, the more of a problem it becomes.