| |
| President Joe Biden has probably had one of the most difficult weeks of his political life, with his mental acuity called into question by a special counsel report detailing instances of memory lapses. |
| Special counsel Robert Hur’s report, issued Thursday, found evidence that President Biden “willfully retained” and shared highly classified information after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen, but determined that evidence didn’t support charging the president. |
| In his 388-page report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Hur also included a highly critical evaluation of Biden’s mental fitness, describing him as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” |
| The report referred to the president’s memory as “hazy,” “significantly limited,” “faulty,” and “poor.” |
| Vice President Kamala Harris blasted the special counsel as being “wrong on the facts” and “politically motivated” in response to a reporter’s question on Friday. |
| Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, also criticized the special counsel’s comments, claiming that his views might be influenced by political pressure from Republicans. |
| After the comments from the special counsel hit the headlines, the president hurriedly summoned a press conference Thursday evening to address the growing concerns surrounding his age and memory. |
| “My memory is fine,” Biden said angrily. |
| He slammed special counsel for questioning his mental acuity and became upset while responding to the report’s comments about his recollection of when his son died. |
| “How in the hell dare he raise that?” he said. |
| He also fired back at FOX News’ Peter Doocy, saying, “My memory is so bad, I let you speak.” |
| Later, the Biden campaign used the video clip featuring that question and answer for its advertisement. |
| Critics argue that former President Donald Trump doesn’t face as much media scrutiny regarding mental acuity or verbal blunders as t Biden does. They assert that the former president, who is the GOP frontrunner, has also exhibited troubling instances of confusion, such as recently mixing up Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi. |
| “I support candidates based on their policies and policy results, not pronunciation,” Ann Lewis, a Democratic strategist and former White House communications director under the Clinton administration, told The Epoch Times. |
| It was a challenging week for President Biden. Before the special counsel’s report, he faced media scrutiny for mentioning deceased European leaders— François Mitterrand and Helmut Koh—while discussing recent conversations with his global counterparts. |
| According to Roger Klein, a doctor and former advisor to the Department of Health and Human Services, the president’s behavior is “very concerning.” |
| “I don’t want to make definitive pronouncements, but it’s very suspicious and very concerning,” Klein told The Epoch Times “It’s suspicious for—especially in the context of his overall appearance and his facial expressions—cognitive decline or dementia.” |
| It’s not uncommon for presidents to face scrutiny regarding their health, says David Pietrusza, a presidential historian. |
| For example, he recalled Woodrow Wilson famously suffering a series of strokes that led to his incapacitation in 1919–1920. Dwight Eisenhower also endured a heart attack in 1955 and ileitis surgery in June 1956. Furthermore, observers raised doubts about Ronald Reagan’s mental abilities towards the end of his first term. |
| “No president aside from Mr. Biden has suffered the indignity of having his mental capacities and age so harshly questioned in an official document publicly released by his own administration,” Pietrusza told The Epoch Times. |
| According to John Gizzi, a veteran White House correspondent and Newsmax’s chief political columnist, the closest he has ever seen a president’s cognitive ability questioned was in 1987, when President Reagan came under fire during the Iran-Contra scandal. |
| “In the weeks and months ahead, Reagan would deliver a much-praised State of the Union address, hold at least one press conference, and do several sit-down interviews. His popularity rose, and questions faded about his mental status,” Gizzi told The Epoch Times. |
| Now, the question remains whether Biden and his staff can dispel the recent doubts about his mental acuity ahead of the 2024 election. |
| “He’s going to have difficulty overcoming these problems,” says Klein. |
| He believes that engaging with tough journalists and responding to challenging questions in an unscripted manner is the most effective method for the president to rebuild confidence. |
| Jackson Richman contributed to this report. |
| To dig deeper into the subject, read the following original reporting by our journalists: | |
| |
| |
| |
Thank you for being a subscriber
If you enjoy what you’re reading, please consider forwarding this email to someone who might find it informative. Your Feedback
We'd love to hear from you. You can email us at topstory@epochtimes.nyc We may feature an exerpt of your response in the next newsletter.
| | |
