White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden’s vigor and mental acuity in response to questions about his performance.
She emphasized Biden’s recent public appearances and engagements with world leaders as evidence of his sharpness and engagement.
“Well, let me just first say — and I was on the swing with him recently, right? He went to Wisconsin. He went to Michigan. He went to California. He went to Vegas, and he’s gonna go to Ohio later this week. And so, he visited small businesses, and he met with people on the road, obviously, and spent hours with them,” Jean-Pierre said.
REPORTER: Is Biden different in private than he is in public? Because we certainly aren't seeing this "vigor" you keep talking about…
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "He took some questions that you all had and he tends to answer them in a lightweight, a funny way, and he's sharp with his… pic.twitter.com/bse8sA6vPE
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 12, 2024
“So folks have seen him, and you all have seen him yourselves as you cover this president. And so, you see him interact. You see him engage, and even when he was in Vegas, he took some questions that you all had. … He tends to answer them–and in a light way, a funny way–and was sharp with his answers to some of you about that,” she added.
“I spoke already about my experience with him, and just to answer your question, I have spent countless hours with this president, whether in the Oval Office or on the road, and I have to say he’s sharp, he’s engaged, [and] he pushes us for information,” she said.
This defense comes after a report by special counsel Robert Hur, which detailed Biden’s “significantly limited” memory and instances where he forgot key details, including his time as vice president and his son Beau’s death.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the report stated.
“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt,” it added.
“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He 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 when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’),” the report stated, noting that the President “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.”
Despite the report’s findings, Biden has asserted that his memory is “fine” and lashed out at the criticism.
“There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that?” Biden said.
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