First, President Biden had a cold. Then it was jet lag. He wasn’t on any medications. But then, he actually did take some cold medicine. The president didn’t see his doctor. No, he had a check-up. 

The ever-evolving explanations about Mr. Biden’s overall health since his debate performance Thursday surely aren’t calming fears among democrats about re-electing an 81-year-old. 

Questions about Mr. Biden’s health have persisted for years, especially after a number of videos began to go viral showing the president stumbling over words, forgetting names, and appearing frail at events and on the world stage. The press grew more eager to demand answers about his fitness only after he appeared tired and confused within the first few minutes of that presidential debate. 

“President Biden has a cold,” the campaign staff told NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell halfway through the debate. But Mr. Biden was stumbling over words, forgetting key facts and names, and coughing throughout his performance, leading many online to demand immediate answers. 

That explanation, however, lasted just a few days, as reporters demanded to know if the president was medicated before the debate, and why they had not been alerted about his condition before it began. 

Mr. Biden quickly contradicted his own staff, leading to only more speculation about his health. Tuesday, at a fundraiser in Virginia, the president said the cause of his bad performance was actually his international travel. Prior to the debate, he had gone to Europe twice and to the West Coast for a campaign event. 

“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate,” Mr. Biden told attendees. “I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage.”

The problem is that Mr. Biden did not travel “shortly” before the debate. He left Washington for Italy on June 12, and was back in the white House by June 16 — 11 days before the debate. On June 18 and 19, Mr. Biden and his family were vacationing at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. On June 20, the president departed Delaware and traveled to Camp David to start debate prep, which lasted for a week until the June 27 debate. 

After Democrats began to panic about Mr. Biden’s performance shortly after the debate and into the next day, the White House kept brushing off the concerns about nothing more than one “bad” night as the result of a cold. 

Days later, the White House was contradicted again by the realities of Mr. Biden’s health. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that the president had not seen his doctor since the debate, and refused to say if he received a “neurological scan” to see if there was anything more serious going on with him. 

At a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday evening, some raised concerns about Mr. Biden’s health and questioned if he was up to the task of winning key states in November. Mr. Biden, in response, told governors that he had seen his doctor about his cold and received a clean bill of health, according to Politico. 

Ms. Jean-Pierre had said just a few hours earlier than Mr. Biden had not, in fact, seen a doctor. 

Many Democrats are reserving their judgment about the president until after more serious poll numbers come out and Mr. Biden is better evaluated by the public. Congressman Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat who has long been friendly with the president, said Wednesday that Mr. Biden needs to “demonstrate” his viability quickly, or risk losing even more support among Democrats. 

“Winning will require prosecuting the case in the media, in town halls, and at campaign stops all over the country,” Mr. Moulton said on X. “President Biden needs to demonstrate that he can do that.”

Mr. Biden has participated in fewer press conferences and sat for fewer interviews than most modern commanders-in-chief, furthering the narrative that his own staff is shielding him not only from the public, but from administration officials. He is scheduled to sit down for a pre-recorded interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopulous on Friday, though it is slated to last just around 15 minutes, according to the Daily Beast. 

A co-chairman of Mr. Biden’s campaign, Senator Coons, says he is urging the campaign to put the president in front of the press and in front of the public as soon as possible, especially after he hunkered down at Camp David for a weekend with his family, and only addressed the press once in a five-minute speech about the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, where he took no questions.