White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden to reporters, who asked if there is a “different sort of level of vigor that is perhaps not as visible” in the 81-year-old president.
A reporter asked the White House press secretary if there is, perhaps, a different level of “vigor” displayed by Biden behind the scenes — a level the American people are not seeing. This theme is on everyone’s minds following the damning report from special counsel Robert Hur, who essentially concluded that they will not prosecute Biden in his classified documents case, repeatedly pointing to his deteriorating mental state.
“Well, let me just first say — and I was on the swing with him recently, right? He went to Wisconsin. He went to Michigan. He went to California. He went to Vegas, and he’s gonna go to Ohio later this week. And so, he visited small businesses, and he met with people on the road, obviously, and spent hours with them,” Jean-Pierre said, pointing to all the stops made by Biden as of late.
“So folks have seen him, and you all have seen him yourselves as you cover this president. And so, you see him interact. You see him engage, and even when he was in Vegas, he took some questions that you all had. … He tends to answer them–and in a light way, a funny way–and was sharp with his answers to some of you about that,” she continued, boasting that Biden also meets with world leaders.
“I spoke already about my experience with him, and just to answer your question, I have spent countless hours with this president, whether in the Oval Office or on the road, and I have to say he’s sharp, he’s engaged, [and] he pushes us for information,” she claimed, also reiterating that she believes Biden is “sharp” and “on top of things.”
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Jean-Pierre’s defense follows Hur’s report, in which he concluded that Biden is too mentally feeble to prosecute, detailing his “significantly limited” memory.
Joe Biden — classified documents
“We have also considered that, at trial, 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,” the report states in part.
“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt,” it continues.
Notably, that same report also pointed out that Biden forgot when he was vice president, as well as when his son Beau died.
“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’),” according to the report, which added that Biden “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.”
Biden lashed out following the release of the report, asserting that his memory is “fine.”
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“There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that?” Biden said.
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