KEY POINTS
- Joe Biden’s rebuttal came hours after special counsel Robert Hur released the Thursday report
- The report cleared Biden of any wrongdoing in his mishandling of classified documents
- The special counsel said Biden’s memory “appeared hazy” during interviews with investigators
Joe Biden sharply dismissed the criticism about his memory after a special counsel report portrayed him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
“My memory has not gotten worse,” the president told reporters in a televised address to the nation hours after special counsel Robert Hur released a report Thursday, clearing Biden of any wrongdoing in classified documents mishandling.
Hur’s report said the special counsel had decided not to criminally charge Biden despite what was described in the report as the president’s willful retention of classified documents and disclosure of some classified information to the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir. During interviews that were part of the investigation, investigators also found Biden to have such reduced mental capacities that he could not recall the dates of his vice presidency under former President Barack Obama, the report said.
“My memory is fine,” Biden said in the primetime address. “Take a look at what I’ve done since I’ve become president.”
Biden slammed the report for saying his memory “appeared hazy” and for particularly highlighting that he could not mention when his son Beau died of cancer.
“There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died,” Biden said. “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 damn business.”
“I don’t need anybody to remind me when he passed away,” he added.
Hur’s report said the investigation concluded that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials” after leaving office but the evidence did not support prosecuting the president.
“Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote.
Hur’s references to the 81-year-old president’s memory could make it harder for Biden to convince voters that he can complete another four-year term as the oldest person to ever serve as the U.S. president.
“For any extraneous commentary, they don’t know what they’re talking about,” Biden said Thursday. “It has no place in this report. The bottom line is, the matter is now closed.”
