Joe Biden Blasts Special Counsel Over Report’s References To His Mental Fitness: “My Memory Is Fine”

Ted Johnson
·3 min read
26

Joe Biden angrily denied that he has memory problems as he blasted a special counsel for referencing his mental acuity in a report that was released earlier today.

Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded that Biden should not be charged over his retention of classified documents, but in his report he made repeated references to the president’s cognitive ability.

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“I know there’s some attention paid to language in the report about my recollection of events,” Biden said in remarks in the Diplomatic Room tonight and carried by major networks. “There’s even referenced that I don’t even remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”

Biden added, “Some of you have commented. I wear since the day he died every single day, the rosary he got from Our Lady of …”

The president then appeared to be choking up. “Every Memorial Day we hold a service for him attended by friends and family and the people who love him. I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone to remind me of when he passed away.”

Biden later took questions from reporters.

“I’m well meaning and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing,” he said. “I’ve been president and I put this country back on its feet.”

Biden later pushed back at Fox News’ Peter Doocy when he asked him, “How bad is your memory, and can you continue as president?”

“My memory is so bad I let you speak.”

Another reporter asked, “Do you think your memory has gotten worse?”

“My memory is fine. Take a look at what I have done since I became president. Nobody thought I could pass any of the things that I got passed. How did that happen? You know, I guess I just forgot what was going on.”

Another reporter asked him whether he thought that Hur’s report would further fuel voters’ concerns about his age. “Only by some of you,” Biden said.

In his remarks, Biden did point to contradictions in Hur’s report, including the special counsel’s contention that he “willfully retained” classified files, but other references that there was a “shortage of evidence” that he had done so.

The president also pointed to Hur’s distinction of Biden’s handling of classified material and Trump’s. The former president faces numerous charges in his case, including obstruction of justice.

But the decision by Biden to deliver nighttime remarks, announced less than an hour before he appeared, reflected that so much of the media focus had been on Hur’s focus on the president’s memory. A number of polls show that Biden’s age is a major concern among voters.

When another reporter asked Biden about Americans’ concerns about his age, the president snapped, “that is your judgment. That is your judgment. That is not the judgment of the press.”

The reporter asked, “In December, you told me that you believe there are many other Democrats who could defeat Donald Trump. So why does it have to be you now?”

“I’m the most qualified person in this country to be president of the United States and finish the job I started,” Biden said.

Biden also said that he did not share classified information with a ghostwriter in 2017. “I should have said it should be private because it was the contact between the president and vice president as to what is going on,” he said.

Later Biden talked about the negotiations in the Israel-Hamas war, but identified Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El Sissi as the president of Mexico.

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