In a previously unscheduled address to the nation from the White House on Thursday evening, an angry President Joe Biden sought to respond to the bombshell report from Special Counsel Robert Hur and insisted "my memory is fine" while attacking Hur for some items included in the report.
"How in the hell dare he raise that," an angry Biden said of the portion of Hur's report that stated Biden "did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died." That matter, the president said, is "none of their damn business."
Biden denies he has memory issues regarding his son's death, then forgets the name of the church when mentioning the rosary from Beau that he wears "every single day." pic.twitter.com/VbHcOMF24Y
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 9, 2024
"For any extraneous commentary, they don't know what they're talking about," Biden insisted, despite the report directly quoting Biden's confused answers. "It has no place in this report," declared Biden. "The bottom line is the matter is now closed and I can continue what I've always focused on: my job of being the president of the United States of America."
Responding to questions from the White House press corps, Biden insisted "I know what the hell I'm doing" and told Fox News Channel's Peter Doocy "my memory's so bad that I let you speak," before again stating "my memory is fine."
Biden tries cracking jokes when asked serious questions about his mental acuity.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 9, 2024
DOOCY: "How bad is your memory and can you continue as president?"
BIDEN: "My memory is so bad I let you speak." pic.twitter.com/9UYYOUIoz7
Despite the damning contents of Hur's report, Biden defiantly declared "I'm the most qualified person in this country to be the president of the United States."
Biden then moved on to questions on other topics and promptly proceeded to confuse the presidents of Egypt and Mexico while renewing his smears against Israel's response to the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Biden mixes up the presidents of Mexico and Egypt when discussing the conflict in Israel and the Gaza strip:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 9, 2024
"As you know, initially, the president of Mexico El-Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him, I convinced him to… pic.twitter.com/stbbNAMK3x
Biden just said the President of Egypt is the President of Mexico right after he threw Israel under the bus with a total smear about an “over the top” response to the October 7 massacre. All to appease pro-terrorism Dem voters in Michigan. Despicable.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 9, 2024
That is the 3rd time THIS WEEK he’s publicly confused the identities of foreign leaders.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 9, 2024
This time, it came in the context of indignantly denying that he’s got any mental acuity issues, while attacking a special counsel report.
Hoo boy.
The real question is who thought trotting Biden out for this was a good idea.
The remarks, announced with scant notice Thursday night, come after Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report on his investigation of Biden's mishandling of classified documents after leaving office. And while Hur declined to bring charges for Biden's actions, the report was seemingly more damning to the president than an indictment would have been, explaining that Biden is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" that a jury would be unlikely to convict. Hur's report also noted that Biden "did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended...and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began." Biden also "did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died."
Where things go from here is anyone's guess. President Biden and his White House are clearly at a crossroads as the president's governance and 2024 re-election campaign look to be on life support. Americans continue to reject Biden's agenda — from the border crisis and the economy to international chaos that's sprung up on Biden's watch. While White House aides scramble from one crisis to the next, it seems Biden — if he can't even recall when his son died — is blissfully unaware of the trouble his administration is in.
Earlier on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to tamp down questions about President Biden's repeated reference to conversations with world leaders who were already dead at the time he said he met with them. Her spin: pivoting to invoke January 6 and claiming that everyone "misspeaks."
This is a developing story and may be updated.