Special counsel Robert Hur's report described President Biden as “a sympathetic, well-intentioned old man with a short memory,” and numerous political analysts said that was exactly the impression the president left on viewers of Thursday's debate.
In the February report, which noted that Biden's “memory also appeared to have significant limitations,” Hur said he would not pursue criminal charges against the president after a months-long investigation into his improper retention of classified documents related to national security.
“Based on our direct interactions with him and our observations, he is someone in whom many juries will want to identify reasonable doubt,” the report states. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president in his eighties — of a serious crime requiring a willing state of mind.”
During and after Biden’s debate against former President Donald Trump this week, several political analysts took to social media to suggest that Hur, who faced criticism from Democrats and liberal media figures for comments in the report about Biden’s memoir and trial, had been “vindicated” and “deserves an apology.”
JOHNSON SAYS GOP REPRESENTATIVES WILL SUE DOJ NEXT WEEK TO OBTAIN AUDIO TAPES OF BIDEN AND HUR
Special counsel Robert Hur's report described Biden as “a sympathetic, well-intentioned older man with a short memory,” reflecting what some analysts believe was the impression he left on debate viewers. (Getty Images)
“You know who really seems vindicated tonight? Special Counsel Robert Hur,” said Jim Geraghty, National Review senior political correspondent and Washington Post contributing columnist, amid Biden's performance.
Echoing Geraghty, Charles C.W. Cooke, a British-born American journalist and senior writer for National Review Online, wrote in a post for X: “Robert Hur deserves an apology.”
Former Trump-era White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also weighed in on Biden's performance by referencing Hur.
“Biden is worse than anyone knew. Robert Hur must have been really shocked. Now the country is,” McEnany, co-host of Fox News' “Outnumbered,” said in a social media post.
During the interview with Hur, Biden, according to the report, “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 about when his term began ('in 2009, am I still vice president?')”.
“Even after several years, he could not recall when his son Beau died. And his memory seemed fuzzy when describing the debate over Afghanistan that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he had a 'real difference' of opinion with Gen. Karl Eikenberry, when in fact Eikenberry was an ally whom Eiden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama,” Hur's report states.
TRUMP SAYS 'BIGGEST PROBLEM' ISN'T BIDEN'S AGE, 'DECLINE,' BUT HIS POLICIES IN FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE DEBATE
President Biden and former President Trump during a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27, 2024. (Getty Images)
Biden and his allies responded aggressively to concerns about his mental state in the wake of the report. Although a full transcript of the interview was released, Republican lawmakers are still seeking audio tapes of the conversations.
Earlier this week, ahead of the debate, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said House Republicans will file a lawsuit next week to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over tapes audio of Hur's interview with Biden.
“We're going to file a lawsuit next week against the Department of Justice to enforce that subpoena. We're going to go to the district court here in D.C., which is the appropriate venue, and we're going to fight vigorously to get it,” Johnson told reporters at his regular news conference.
Attorney General Merrick Garland He had previously refused House Republican investigators' subpoena for the audio tapes, citing Biden's claim of executive privilege.
Garland's refusal prompted House Republicans to hold him in contempt earlier this month, referring Garland to his own department for criminal charges. The Justice Department ultimately declined to prosecute.
Attorney General Merrick Garland (L) previously rejected House Republican investigators' subpoena for the audio tapes, citing Biden's claim of executive privilege. (Getty Images)
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Following Biden's debate performance, several media figures now support the release of audio tapes of the president's interview with Hur, including Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle.
“If he has any hope that Biden's performance on Thursday was simply an aberration, he should call on the administration to release the tapes of his interview with Robert Hur so we can all hear how he talks when he doesn't have a cold,” McArdle wrote in a post on X.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
