Topline
President Joe Biden on Monday joked about his memory during a speech, an apparent attempt to downplay growing concerns—and burgeoning reelection campaign crises—about his age re-ignited in recent days by a damning report and increasingly negative polls.
US President Joe Biden speaks during the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference on ... [+]
Key Facts
In a speech at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference on Monday, Biden was talking about recent clean energy actions taken by his administration when he said, "I know I don’t look like it, but I’ve been around a while, I do remember that”—prompting laughs and applause from the crowd.
But on Thursday, Robert Hur, a special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice, released a report into Biden’s handling of classified documents that described how, during interviews, the the president came across as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
The report’s release came after years of Biden gaffes—from mixing up the names of foreign leaders to misstating the number of granddaughters he has—have raised concerns about his age and ability to serve another four years if elected in November.
Biden rejected the report’s claims in a press conference the day it was released, saying "my memory’s fine,” and vice president Kamala Harris blasted it as being "politically motivated” and “gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate."
Key Background
Hur’s report came out of a probe into the handling of classified documents that ultimately spared the president of criminal charges. The report said Biden did "willfully" hold onto classified materials after his term as vice president ended in 2017, but that the department would not press charges because Biden could portray himself in front of a jury as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” The report called Biden’s memory “significantly limited" and said it would be hard to convict "a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness." The report mentioned several specific instances of Biden's memory failing. Just last week, Biden confused Egypt with Mexico when discussing the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, mixed up the names of the French president and German chancellor with their dead predecessors and seemed to forget the name of the Hamas group.
Big Number
86%. That's how many Americans think Biden is too old to serve a second term, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted on Feb. 9 and 10, after Hur’s report. That percentage also includes the 59% of people who think Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, are both too old to be president.
Crucial Quote
“I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that,” Vice President Kamala Harris said last week after she was asked about concerns over Biden's age. "Everyone who sees her on the job walks away fully aware of my capacity to lead.”
