Biden"reinforces," makes "problem" of incompetency & fitness for another 4-Year Term worse
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — “This is beyond devastating,” said one Democrat operative, speaking on the condition of anonymity to be able to talk candidly about Joe Biden’s increasingly visible mental shortcomings. In deciding not to charge President Biden with any crimes for repeatedly mishandling Top Secret & Classified Documuents over a period of decades, Special Counsel Robert Hur wrote that in a potential trial:
“Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview with him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
As a result, said the Report, we would not be able to "establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
Before Special Counsel Robert Hur’s "Report on the Investigation Into Unauthorized Removal, Retention & Disclosure of Classified Documents by Joseph R. Biden, Jr." was released with a thunderclap last Thursday afternoon, Biden aides had been bracing for a finding that he had been careless in his treatment of Top-Secret & Classified Documents – now the political fallout from the report appears to be far, far worse.As a result, said the Report, we would not be able to "establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."“It confirms every doubt and concern voters have – if the only reason they didn’t charge him was because he’s too old to be charged (and relied upon for legitimate answers to questions when on the stand,) then how can he be president of the United States?”
The portrait of a man, and President, who couldn’t remember when he served as Barack Obama’s Vice President – or the year when his beloved son Beau died – dealt a blow to Biden’s argument that his mental faculties are still fit enough to serve another four-year term.
Special Counsel Hur wrote there was evidence Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified material after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”
The portrait of a man, and President, who couldn’t remember when he served as Barack Obama’s Vice President – or the year when his beloved son Beau died – dealt a blow to Biden’s argument that his mental faculties are still fit enough to serve another four-year term.
Special Counsel Hur wrote there was evidence Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified material after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”
The report describes certain classified records involving the war in Afghanistan in Biden’s Delaware garage inside a “badly damaged box surrounded by household detritus.” Storage of sensitive government secrets was referred to as being haphazard.
It was tough enough for Biden to reassure voters about his health before Hur’s "Investigation Into Unauthorized Removal, Retention & Disclosure of Classified Documents by Joseph R. Biden, Jr." Report, but now that the report has been released, its prompting members of his own Democrat Party to question whether he should – or even could – remain the nominee in November.
Polling has long shown that questions of his mental decline were growing, and looms as Biden’s greatest liability in his expected November rematch with former President Donald Trump.
A January poll by NBC News found that 76% of voters have major or moderate concerns about Biden’s mental and physical health.
“It’s been a problem since way before this ever happened,” said a longtime Democrat operative who noted that when focus groups are asked to apply one word to Biden, it is often “old.”
Just last week, Biden twice referred to conversations he’s had as president with foreign leaders who’ve long since died.
In his remarks Thursday night defending his competency, while talking about the war in Gaza, he referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as being the head of Mexico.While White House press aides have downplayed such lapses as the sort of mistake anyone in public life can make, the Hur Report strips away the defenses that Biden’s press operation has used to protect him and raises fresh doubts about whether Biden is up to the rigors of the presidency, Democratic strategists said in interviews.
“It’s a nightmare,” said a Democratic House member who asked to speak anonymously to provide a frank assessment, adding that “it weakens President Biden electorally, and Donald Trump would be a disaster and an authoritarian.”
“For Democrats, we’re in a grim situation.”
Asked if Hur’s report changes the calculus for Democrats who expect Biden to be the party’s nominee, this person said:
“How the f--- does it not?”
Biden wasted little time before attempting to minimize the fallout. He held an unexpected exchange with reporters in the White House on Thursday night, in which he disputed Hur's assessment of his mental acuity.
But Mr. Biden grew emotional when invoking the part of the report addressing the date of his son's death.
"How in the hell dare you raise that?" Biden said. "Frankly, when I was asked the question I thought to myself, 'It wasn't any of their damn business.' "
‘Beyond Devastating’
Another Biden ally called it “the worst day of his presidency,” saying “I think he needs to show us this is a demonstrably false characterization of him, and that he has what it takes to win and govern.”
Biden, however, clashed with several reporters, was clearly confused about and referenced the presidents of Egypt and Mexico inappropriately when answering a question about the Middle-East situation, and struck a defiant tone by declaring that he was the most qualified person for the presidency.
Former Obama advisor and CNN Senior Political Analyst David Axelrod (left,) said Biden's hastily-called Thursday evening Press Conference "reinforces the meme" that Biden is too old.
Axelrod said that Biden’s response simply did not solve the "problem" of the majority of voters thinking he’s too old and too incompetent for the job.
While Biden was fortunate to escape indictment, the Special Rounsel report is expected to give Mr. Trump additional fodder as he fights charges for allegedly mishandling classified records at his Mar-a-Lago social club. Republicans are already accusing Biden of benefiting from a double standard.
Trump will likely brandish the Hur Report as proof that Biden has “weaponized” the Justice Department for political advantage.
What’s more, Democrats will now be hard-pressed to capitalize on Trump’s indictment over retaining classified records.
Before Hur’s report, Democrats argued that the two cases were very different. Whereas Trump failed to turn over classified records even after he was asked to do so, Biden willingly cooperated with authorities and relinquished all the material he had, Biden's allies had argued.
Special Counsel Hur's Report, however, mentions at least one instance in February 2017 – when Biden was no longer vice president – when Biden read notes containing classified information “nearly verbatim” to a ghostwriter helping him with his book, “Promise Me, Dad.”
President Joe Biden may have avoided any criminal charges as the investigation into his handling of classified documents concluded, but the political costs from the Special Counsel’s Thursday report could prove even more devastating – it reinforced the growing and insurmountable impressions that Mr. Biden is too old and impaired to be reelected to the nation's highest office.
What will stick in the American Voter’s minds is the public confirmation of Mr. Biden’s rapidly declining ability to serve another term as president.
