The liberal media is melting down over Special Counsel Robert Hur’s assessment of President Joe Biden’s memory.
On Friday, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough led the charge as he ripped into Hur’s claims about Biden’s limited memory. He insisted the main headline should be, “Not indicted,” not about memory lapses.
“Can you think this guy is so naive, you think this guy is so stupid, you think this guy is so clueless, that he didn’t know that putting words in that Donald Trump would love for him to put in there that that wasn’t going to be the headline for The New York Post? The guy knew!” Scarborough said of the special counsel.
He then attacked Hur’s independence as he declared, “He’s a Trumper! Who knew?!”
“So why in the world, why in the world would the Justice Department allow that dicta to be in there? It’s gratuitous!” Scarborough insisted.
MSNBC's @jheil attacks the special counsel: "Can you explain to me how this is different from what Jim Comey did in … 2016?"
"There’s no doubt in my mind that this special prosecutor could have written the same report without using these words: ‘Elderly man with a poor… pic.twitter.com/neonrKZPqc
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 9, 2024
Of course, this attack on the special counsel comes from the same side that has spent years insisting the prosecutions of former President Donald Trump are not political and wailing about upholding faith in the integrity of the Justice Department.
And if you watch liberal outlets like MSNBC, you’ll see commentators apoplectic about Hur’s report as they note lawyers will encourage their clients to say they “cannot recall” in certain situations.
However, they are acting as though Hur was born yesterday and has never, ever done any work with the criminal justice system and that the interview with Biden was the first time he ever encountered someone saying they cannot recall something — and that he simply believed that was a sign of bad memory.
These commentators fail to consider the chance that the president could not “recall” details from years ago — aside from what was mentioned in the report — and Hur thought it was plausible and not a sign of bad memory. What they also fail to grapple with is the claim Biden forgot when he was vice president or when his son died.
Now, look, you can say it was a hit job to include those claims about Biden’s memory if Hur was not going to recommend charges. It is in one sense not fair for the president. How can he clear his name? If the Justice Department is not bringing charges, why attack him?
Hur states very clearly he believes Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” How anyone could read that and claim there was no evidence of a crime in the report is bizarre.
So the special counsel has to then explain why he is not bringing charges. And simply relying on a Justice Department policy that prosecutors cannot charge a sitting president with a crime to justify not recommending charges would undermine any faith in an independent justice system as the main opposition candidate is facing federal charges for willfully retaining classified documents.
Hur states it was not just Justice Department policy that kept him from recommending charges, but also the fact he came to the conclusion the president is too senile to be prosecuted.
Certainly, Biden should be given the opportunity to clear his name and concerns about his memory. He could demand transcripts or recordings of his interview be released to refute Hur’s claim. He could perhaps undergo some independent assessment.
But what happened on Thursday evening during his press conference only seemed to corroborate Hur’s allegations as he angrily shouted at reporters. Biden insisted he knew when his son, Beau Biden, died — though he did not say when and then seemed to forget the name of the church Beau got a rosary from.
He also yelled at a reporter who asked about polls showing Americans are concerned about his age that it was “your judgment!” and it is “not the judgment of the press” — presumably he meant “people” as the reporter is a member of the press.
And then he mixed up Mexico and Egypt and he claimed to have spoken to the Mexican president to help get aid into the Gaza Strip. It was entirely unclear where Mexico came from.
He also sickly tried to blame the Oct. 7 attack for his memory lapses as he noted the voluntary interview took place on Oct. 8. This is not the best excuse as it implies the president just forgets major life details when he is stressed out. But even if it was true, could he not have simply asked to re-schedule the interview citing, you know, an international crisis involving one of our very important allies?
Speaking to a federal prosecutor is not something anyone should just do flippantly and without consideration for the potential consequences. Yet it seems to be the case — in the best case scenario — the president decided he could treat the interview like a high school test he declined to study for until the last minute, which does not show the best judgment on his part.
Then there’s the issue of him claiming he spoke to dead people three times in a week, or appearing to forget the name of Hamas.
All this comes as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre — and his other allies — have insisted Biden is pretty much as vigorous and vibrant as a 40-year-old despite what we have all seen years.
It would certainly appear we now have evidence the White House has been desperately trying to hide and spin the fact the president has severe issues with his mental capacity. And those are details the American people deserve to know as he is seeking another four years in office.
If Biden wanted to avoid this from coming out, the simple answer is he should not have taken classified documents and stored them in his garage in Delaware for years.
Had he followed the law and not mishandled classified documents, he might not be in this situation now. Instead, this is where we are. And attacking Hur is not going to alleviate the concerns Americans have had about his age for years.
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
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