Last Thursday, a special counsel released a report detailing the findings of an investigation on President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. The mishandling occurred after his time as Vice President; a series of documents and handwritten notes were discovered in his Delaware home last year.
While the report disclosed that Special Counsel Robert K. Hur would not be pressing charges, the more consequential aspect of the report relates to the reasoning behind the decision. Hur stated that, in the event of a trial, Biden would most likely present himself “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Conservative media was quick to capitalize on Hur’s “observation.” It was political war-mongering on his part for him to include such a statement. The fact that Hur is a DOJ official means that a sense of legitimacy is attached to the statement, making the remark even more worrying for the Biden administration.
It is important to note that Robert K. Hur is a former Department of Justice official in Trump’s administration, and it is a safe bet that some political biases are baked into his analysis. Whether the intention was to damage his campaign or not, the outcome has not been pretty for Biden.
Shortly after the release of the report, Biden held a press conference in the White House where reporters did not hold back. One asked quite bluntly, “How bad is your memory and can you continue as president?” A noticeably frustrated Biden quipped back, stating, “My memory is so bad I let you speak,” insinuating that he has had run-ins with the particular reporter in the past.
Biden’s outrage at the characterization of him in the report is justifiable. There is no obvious association between his age and the foolish actions he took. The discussion on his age also takes away from the fact that no charges will be pressed. Hur gifted Republicans a distraction instead of gifting Democrats a legal win.
Yet, the discussion on Biden’s age remains important, and the discussion will not be going away anytime soon. The President is currently 81 years old, and it might be a tough pill to swallow, but his age is showing. His campaign team should be nervous.
A recent poll shows that 77% of Americans believe Biden is too old for office, including 69% of Democrats. Yet, Donald Trump is by no means young either. The former president is currently 77 years old, and before Biden, he was the oldest president in American history. Despite the 4 year difference, only 51% of Americans think Trump is too old for office.
The disparity shows the age question is going to be a tough one for the Biden campaign to deal with, and an easy question for the Trump team to exploit. It will be interesting in the coming months to see how Biden’s team approaches this issue. It is quite obvious that it will take a lot of work.
