Joe Biden remembered to address the nation at 7:45 PM, though he was on DC time, shuffling in at least 10 minutes late to discuss the report filed by Special Counsel Robert Hur. The summary of the report was damning, riddled with annotations about Biden’s memory lapses. The president doesn’t remember his time serving as Obama’s vice president, nor does he remember when his son died.
Biden was seething over those portions of the report, saying that he’ll always remember the passing of his son, Beau, noting a rosary that he wears to commemorate his death, though he couldn’t remember where he got it from. Biden said that he thought it was none of Mr. Hur’s business.
“Our lady of…” and he left it at that. He forgot the church.
He opened it up for questions, which were a deluge of inquiries about his memory and his age. When trying to defend his fitness for office, he mentioned his record and what he’s passed, which has created a high inflation crisis that hasn’t gone away. Notably, Biden didn’t name much after that because there isn’t much regarding legislation.
Biden lashed out at the press, saying that the perceptions about his memory issues are solely grounded in the media. That’s not the case. Ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod commented that there are “reams of polling material,” pointing out that it’s a real thing with voters, a concern that’s not going away. Axelrod added that he’s “not sure he [Biden] solved his problem tonight.”
When he tried to leave the podium, he was asked about the Israel-Hamas War, detailing what we already know about our diplomatic mission there.
He then referred to Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president of Egypt, as the president of Mexico.
Before this presser, Biden tossed out anecdotes about how he had spoken with European leaders, who've been dead for years, at two campaign events.
The media defense was not too far removed from what Tommy Vietor, a podcaster and former Obama aide, posted on Twitter, where he said Biden was distracted by the October 7 attacks.
To kick off DEFCON Biden, CNN’s John King said Biden should get credit for overcoming a stutter while serving in public life.
CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin exploded over the Hur report, noting that it was a partisan hack job because the latter is a Republican. Toobin was almost as incensed as Biden regarding the portions about Biden’s age and memory but did admit that Biden screwing up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico is what everyone is going to remember about this presser.
Former Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield was more complimentary about the address, noting that her former boss showed some swagger on the podium. She dismissed Biden’s El-Sisi screw-up as something we shouldn’t devote much time to, but Mr. Axelrod wasn’t buying that, adding this isn’t some inside-the-beltway discussion. Voters are concerned about Biden’s mental competency.
Ashley Hinson, a former senior 2020 Biden-Harris staffer, tried to sell the ‘both men are old’ argument, which isn’t a defense. Trump doesn’t have those trip-ups. It’s like what Bill Maher observed about the two men: Trump is old, but he’s like Kiss—just put on the face paint and the wig, and he sounds just as he did in 1978.
"He has to take it [his age issue] on straight ahead," said Hinson. He can't just run away.
Former prosecutor Eli Honig probably had the best take on the report and its political implications. While he admitted that Trump and Biden’s classified document issues are different, he added that Biden was exonerated, but just barely. Being a former federal prosecutor, he read all the documents and wasn’t kind to Biden regarding his conduct, adding that Joe came this close to charges being filed over this scandal.
Honig also said that Biden contradicted himself twice in his presser. The CNN legal analyst did point out that now this is a debate about whether you believe the Hur report or Biden more, but the president said tonight that he didn’t willfully keep these files—Hur said he did.
"It's on tape," Honig said. The president also said he never disclosed classified materials to his ghostwriter. The report refutes that claim as well.
The Trump legal team never had much of a foundation to file a ‘selective prosecution’ motion in their case against Special Counsel Jack Smith. Honig says these are difficult motions to win, but now the former president has a crease to exploit. Hinson was dismissive of Honig's take, not because she disagreed, but because she's betting Americans won't read the Hur report.
MSNBC did not disappoint either, highlighting how not recalling things in a deposition is routine. Like CNN’s Toobin, Lawrence O’Donnell and Ari Melber were not pleased with the perceived derogatory cheap shots aimed at Biden regarding his age and mental health.
The whole segment oozed with Acela Media’s other pastime: an addiction to credentialism, where opinions they find disagreeable are dismissed over some educational flaw with the person or persons making the argument. In this case, Mr. Hur isn’t a doctor, so who cares about his language in Biden’s memory? Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, and Chris Hayes were also on this panel. It's what you’d expect to overhear from coastal elitist dining at a restaurant serving overpriced food.
None of these panelists' commentaries neutralize what voters continue to view as a problem with Joe Biden: his age and the health issues that come with it. If the main counterattack is that Mr. Hur editorialized portions of the report that showed Biden willfully withheld sensitive materials and shared classified information, then they’re screwed. Sure, Biden was cleared of charges, but by mere inches. Honig probably had the best take on this since it was nuanced, which is why Democrats probably aren’t going to like it. Given that both networks are insufferable, I'm stunned CNN had a better take on this report than MSNBC, though it's not a difficult contest.
The highlighting of Hur’s report about Biden’s age only accentuates this ongoing issue the Biden team will have to deal with until Election Day. Biden being charged was never a genuine fear from the president’s campaign staff and advisers —it was this report and how it could damage the president. It’s done that, and this presser was a terrible idea.
Last Note: Even CNN’s hack fact-checker, Daniel Dale, pointed out that the president wasn’t truthful about his account of the Hur report. There were files unsecured all over the place—there were photos. Of course, he was wheeled out later this evening, so I doubt anyone saw it.
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