Imagine, if you will, if President Joe Biden -- before he dropped his re-election bid -- had held what was billed as a televised town hall in a battleground state. Imagine further that after answering only five questions, Biden's brain seemed to freeze and he just stood there on stage while music played for the remaining 39 minutes of the scheduled event -- as Biden occasionally (and lethargically) moved his hands to the music a bit, but also occasionally just stood there with his eyes closed gripping the back of a chair. Now imagine what the media reaction would have been.

If you guessed an avalanche of "Biden's Too Old!" and "Biden Loses It At Town Hall!" and "Is It Time To Invoke The 25th Amendment?" stories would have flooded the media zone for at least a full week, you would be correct. That is exactly what would have happened.

This Monday, all of the above happened -- except the bit about the media's reaction -- but it was Donald Trump whose brain froze, not Joe Biden. The media reacted by trying to somehow make it all seem normal, when it clearly wasn't. Here are two examples of this "sane-washing," the first from the New York Times, in an article titled: "Trump Bobs His Head To Music For 30 Minutes In Odd Town Hall Detour":

Donald J. Trump was about 30 minutes into a town hall Monday night in suburban Philadelphia when a medical emergency in the crowd brought the questions and answers to a halt. Moments later, he tried to get back on track, when another medical incident seemed to derail things, this time for good.

And so Mr. Trump, a political candidate known for improvisational departures, made a detour. Rather than try to restart the political program, he seemed to decide in the moment that it would be more enjoyable for all concerned -- and, it appeared, for himself -- to just listen to music instead.

That's an awfully positive spin job. You think Biden would have gotten the same positive "would be more enjoyable for all concerned" language if this had happened to him? I don't. The coverage would have been much more along the lines of: "Biden himself seemed lost -- not knowing what to do next -- as he left the moderator standing there obviously concerned about Biden's mental fugue state."

The Washington Post reported the event, under the headline: "Trump Sways And Bops To Music For 39 Minutes In Bizarre Town Hall Episode." At least they pointed out Trump's cruel and unempathetic comments about people daring to faint while he spoke, after the second of his supporters experienced medical distress:

Trump then quipped to the crowd: "Would anybody else like to faint? Please raise your hand. Let's do it now."

But the main part of the story was just as sane-washed as that Times article:

"Let's not do any more questions. Let's just listen to music. Let's make it into a music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?" he said.

For 39 minutes, [Donald] Trump swayed, bopped -- sometimes stopping to speak -- as he turned the event into almost a living-room listening session of his favorite songs from his self-curated rally playlist.

He played nine tracks. He danced. He shook hands with people onstage. He pointed to the crowd. [South Dakota Governor Kristi] Noem stood beside him, nodding with her hands clasped. Trump stayed in place onstage, slowly moving back and forth. He was done answering questions for the night.

. . .

As Trump stood onstage in his oversize suit and bright red tie, swaying back and forth, it was almost as if he were taking a trip back to decades past. Trump's decision to cut short the question-and-answer portion of the town hall and instead have the crowd stay to listen to his favorite songs was a somewhat bizarre move, given that the election was only 22 days away. Vice President Kamala Harris has called Trump, 78, unstable and questioned his mental acuity.

At least somebody in the editorial department at the Post later realized that they were guilty of using a monstrously-different double standard (from how they would have reported on things if it had been Biden), and a different story was then posted, this time titled a lot more realistically: "How Big A Political Problem Is Mental Acuity For Trump?" This started off in a much clearer way:

Donald Trump's rallies and public appearances have never been resounding examples of coherence and policy know-how. But even by his standards, things have gone off the rails a lot recently.

Perhaps most striking was a bizarre town hall Monday night in Pennsylvania where Trump, after two people in the crowd had brief medical emergencies, suddenly decided to forgo further questions. He then stood onstage for 39 minutes swaying and dancing while a series of songs played.

The scene came as Trump's increasingly rambling performances and failure to summon and pronounce words have highlighted questions about his age and mental acuity -- the same issues that effectively ended President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign just three months ago. Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign quickly seized on the events Monday, quipping of Trump, "Hope he's okay." It has also pushed for the release of more Trump medical records.

Others at the Post reacted differently. Another article was posted that noted how dated most of the songs Trump played were (pointing out how dated Trump himself is as well), and how Trump's musical tastes are decidedly odd:

James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is an energetic (if problematic) track, as was his old favorite, "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People. (Here, too, the subtext might not entirely align with Trump's politics, but I digress.)

. . .

Then came a song that I am surprised has not been mentioned more in coverage of the event: "Dixie," as sung by Elvis Presley. Yes, it was part of the hip-swinging singer's cover of "American Trilogy," a three-song medley. But it was still "Dixie," the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy! Played at a presidential campaign event in the year 2024! Without anyone commenting on it!

This was a lot better, and the author is right -- imagine what the media would say if any other political candidate played "Dixie" at a rally! To say nothing of Trump's all-time favorite rally-exiting song, which celebrates the anonymous hookup culture of gay men in the 1970s. Has he never actually listened to the chorus?

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.

They have everything for young men to enjoy

You can hang out with all the boys

The Post finally redeemed itself by assigning the story to their resident satirist, Alexandra Petri. Her review started off with precisely the correct tone to report on what had actually happened:

Not that it was ever exceptionally strong to begin with, but I feel I have lost my hold on reality.

I could have sworn that Donald Trump prematurely ended his town hall (I use the term loosely, because that implies a forum where questions are asked and answered, which this really was not) and instead forced the crowd to stand there while he swayed along to his rally playlist. But it is equally possible that I am hallucinating and my brain is just trying to make me realize that my body is being dissected by aliens in a laboratory.

She goes on to list every single song Trump forced his minions to play for the crowd, which was indeed a bizarre mashup of musical styles, with a little critique of the dance moves (and it's being generous to even call them that) that Trump employed during each one of them. Here's just one example:

8) "It's A Man's Man's Man's World," by James Brown

Nothing about this song says "I am a good song to play at a political rally," but it is also an extremely on-the-nose choice for Trump. Never let it be said that he allowed any of the themes of his candidacy to languish in subtext! Trump does a little windshield-wiper hand gesture that seems intended to evoke dance, and then he taps rhythmically along on the back of a chair.

At least the Post did wake up and realize that their coverage of what can only be described as an extremely abnormal thing for a presidential candidate to do was initially lacking. From 2015 until today, the media's double standard has helped Trump seem a lot more rational and normal than he truly is. Democratic politicians are subjected to intense scrutiny and hard speculation about their fitness for office, while the media collectively shrugs (almost on a daily basis) and just figures: "Oh well, that's just Trump being Trump."

This was their go-to reaction after Trump's mental breakdown on stage. Trump "made an improvisational departure" or "detour." He took "a trip back to decades past" in "almost a living-room listening session," while he "swayed" and "bopped" to the music.

This might have been fitting if Trump had paused his town hall just long enough for the medical emergencies in the crowd to be taken care of, or perhaps for two or even three songs. But Trump's brain froze for a whopping 39 minutes.

This isn't just odd or downright bizarre, it is absolutely unprecedented. A presidential candidate froze for over half an hour when he was supposed to be answering questions from the audience. And his followers -- including the moderator -- are so deep into their cultish mindset that nobody dared Trump's wrath by pointing out that the emperor truly had no clothes on. To her credit, Noem did try at least once, but awfully halfheartedly. The prompting screen facing Trump on the stage even begged him to answer "two more questions" before the end of the town hall, but to no avail. Trump was happy enough to just stand there doing his own thing while everyone else was left to wonder what exactly was going on inside his brain.

And just think of how much ink has been spilled over the question of whether Kamala Harris has a strange laugh or not. To say nothing of the weeks-long coverage of Joe Biden's debate performance, complete with calls for him to step down as his party's candidate. If that is going to be the standard of media coverage, then it should be applied equally to both sides. But as you can see, even after nine years of covering Trump, there's still that go-to "it's just Trump being Trump" mental shrug from far too many members of the Fourth Estate.

The only people who properly did the job that the media surely would have done properly (if this episode had happened with Joe Biden, that is) were the comedians. Both the satirist at the Post and the late-night television hosts had an absolute field day pointing out the fact that Trump just appeared to lose it on stage.

For 39 minutes. Let's not forget that part, because it highlights more than anything else how truly disqualifying this should have been, for a major party's presidential candidate.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant