Something strange is happening at the New York Times. In a rare break with the Gray Lady’s see-no-evil reporting about the failing Joe Biden, the paper published the other day a lengthy article concerning an astonishing lapse by the president.

It happened at a White House event, where Mr. Biden called out “Representative Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” He apparently forgot that Jackie Walorski, Republican of Indiana, had died in August.

Not only did the Times describe the embarrassing senior moment, the paper also reported on the questions asked later at the daily press briefing, when White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre refused to acknowledge the president had flaked out.

The back-and-forth with reporters was ridiculous. Ms. Jean-Pierre argued that Mr. Biden was not confused, but simply had the deceased congressperson “top of mind” and called out to her, even though he had acknowledged her death weeks earlier.

The back-and-forth confirmed the lengths to which the White House will go to pretend that the president is hunky-dory. Few were shocked by such fakery; the surprise was that the Times, staunch ally of Democrats and Mr. Biden, covered the story at all.

After all, when Mr. Biden appeared to get confused this past summer and shake hands with “thin air,” a stumble that attracted 2 million views on Youtube and widespread coverage elsewhere, the Times ignored the story, as it has many others. 

The reporting on Mr. Biden’s call-out to the dead congresswoman was followed up by an opinion piece in the Times by physician Lawrence Altman. It ran under the headline “Candidates Must Disclose Medical Issues.”

Though ostensibly about the lack of transparency demonstrated by the John Fetterman campaign in Pennsylvania, surely the plea to be honest about the Democrat’s post-stroke capacity might inspire similar questions about Mr. Biden’s abilities — or lack thereof.

After all, though the president has submitted to physical exams and made public the results of those routine reviews, he has refused to undertake any sort of cognitive test and has bristled when asked about it. Is this a mere coincidence?

Or, one wonders, is the Left preparing to get rid of Joe Biden? Could we see, after the midterm elections, Democrats push the president to step down for “health reasons,” thus elevating Kamala Harris and positioning her to be a credible candidate in 2024? 

Could the president’s persistent cough conveniently morph into a graver health challenge? The speculation makes sense. If Democrats lose control of the House in November, which appears possible, Mr. Biden would be a lame duck, unable to deliver for his party.

With approval ratings stuck around 40, he cannot effectively lead his party into the next election cycle, when the Oval Office — a far bigger prize — is on the table. Worse for Democrats, Mr. Biden keeps insisting that he wants to run again in 2024.

The effect of that is to sideline would-be contenders like Pete Buttigieg who, to his credit, has continued to back his president, unlike some others, or Governor Newsome of California, who is clearly itching to run for the White House if Mr. Biden doesn’t. 

As we head into a recession, with job losses and sinking stocks likely to characterize the next several months or quarters, Democrats will be in trouble. They will not want a declining Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. So preparing for a retirement makes sense.

True, few Democrats and even fewer voters are keen to see Ms. Harris become the candidate in 2024. At least she is — though over her head — a fully functioning individual. The problem for liberals is that Mr. Biden’s infirmities have been visible for some time.

It’s just that the liberals have simply refused to acknowledge them. So desperate were they to displace President Trump that they manufactured a candidate who could win. They positioned  Mr.  Biden as a moderate and sequestered him in his basement.

That put him far from the klieg lights of the press, and — one has to admit — did a masterful job of getting him elected. It was, though, all a fraud. It turns out that Mr. Biden is no moderate. And, he was not completely well. 

Commentators have for two years documented instances of Mr. Biden appearing lost or dazed, leaning on his wife to maneuver him from one place to another, and uttering hopeless word salads. The press has mostly ignored these frequent occurrences.

This appears to be changing, as the Left realizes it must plant the seed before it can harvest this president. If Democrats decide they are better off with Ms. Harris at the helm, they could seek to persuade Joe Biden to gracefully exit for health reasons.

Or they could invoke the 25^th Amendment, which would allow the vice president and senior cabinet members to move Mr. Biden aside.  That would be an embarrassment to the party and press that backed the greatest political scam in our history. Much better to force Biden to retire. The stage is being set.