@inthehands That is my take as well. It's unfounded speculation but it matches the available facts.
Also, waiting until *after* the Sunday NYT hit newsstands was a power move. Their headline of the day was something about "ailing, isolated, Biden dithers." His actions today and the response have been the opposite of that. Their last three weeks of reportage are now irrelevant, and it's clear they never had a window into the Biden campaign at all.