Biden’s Memory and Age Become Major Issues in Campaign

Special Counsel Robert Hur cleared President Biden of acting illegally in the handling of classified documents but described him as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” and claimed Biden couldn’t remember basic things like, even when he was vice president or when his son died. Biden met with Hur for five hours last October over two days. “Hur cited the president’s ostensible memory problems in concluding that he would have trouble convincing a jury that Biden had willfully mishandled classified documents,” The Washington Post reported, going on to provide context to the two days and show Biden fully engaged during the interview. Biden aides “did not anticipate that the president’s ability to recall dates or other details would figure into the questioning, let alone form such a devastating element of Hur’s report.”

Biden angrily fired back at media questions regarding his memory, asserting that it’s fine, but moments later getting the names of the leaders of Egypt and Mexico wrong. This does not inspire confidence, but there’s a difference between verbal gaffes, the ability to quickly remember names and dates, and deep understanding of geopolitical issues.

George W. Bush was famous for verbal gaffes (books were made of them), and even Barack Obama was on video bragging that he had visited “all 57 states.”

Democratic consultants James Carville and Paul Begala, who worked for Bill Clinton, and David Axelrod, who worked for Barack Obama, validated voter concerns about Biden’s age and mental capacity, and noted that he didn’t take advantage of submitting to a prime-time interview during the Super Bowl as other presidents have done.

Boston College History Professor Heather Cox Richardson read Hur’s 300-page report and added valuable context to what she called a smear of Biden’s memory, having interviewed him recently. “The media ran not with the official takeaway of the investigation—that Biden had not committed a crime—or with a reflection on the accuracy or partisan reason for Hur’s commentary, but with Hur’s insinuations.”

There have been calls for Biden to take a mental competency test and/or a cognitive test. But the conservative Wall Street Journal in fall 2023 called such tests “fundamentally a political gimmick.”

“Such tests are screenings for dementia, not measures of who’s a “very stable genius,” as Mr. Trump once called himself. One evaluation he received in office was the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which is what Ms. Haley is calling to administer. Patients might be asked to identify drawings of animals or to repeat the digits 2-1-8-5-4 right after a doctor says them.”

First Lady Jill Biden says she would never discuss such a test with her husband. “It’s ridiculous,” she told CNN, urging viewers to look at how active her husband is. ““How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train? Go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky?” she said. “So, look at the man. Look what he’s doing. Look what he continues to do each and every day.”