At this point what I think is happening is Joe has one of those old age bugs except this one specifically makes the brain to mouth communication issues that come with a stutter a lot worse.
Because communication seems to always be this guy’s biggest stumbling block, if this were just a credit card comparison there wouldn’t be a race, he’s obviously still a competent guy as old as he is, the problem is that something’s going on that makes it way harder for him to adequately communicate that whenever he needs to.
That’s really the only way I can self reason why he then proceeded to be completely fine in the much lower pressure environment of his after debate rally.
Looking at the current conduct of the russian military, you’re not exactly giving me higher hopes for our ability to let anyone have those