As of: February 10, 2024, 10:35 a.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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After allegations about the US President's mental fitness were made in a special report, Joe Biden rejected them.
Now his team is also reacting.
Washington, DC - Joe Biden's deputy, Kamala Harris, has vehemently rejected a special counsel's critical comments about the US president's age.
"The way the president's conduct was characterized in this report could not be more wrong and was clearly politically motivated," Harris said at the White House on Friday.
Report of the special investigator on US President Joe Biden: Old age in criticism – Kamala Harris defends herself
In the report by special investigator Robert Hur, which deals with Biden's handling of secret documents and the accusation of their embezzlement, critical allegations were made about the US President's mental state due to his old age.
Among other things, it said that Biden seemed like a “well-meaning older man with a bad memory,” as the
AFP
news agency reports.
There was also clear criticism of special investigator Hur's comments from the White House.
Since the results of the investigation do not justify charges, the question arises as to why "the report spends time making baseless and inappropriate criticism of the president," said Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House.
US Vice President Kamala Harris defends herself against criticism of President Joe Biden's mental state.
© IMAGO (2) / ABACAPRESS / ZUMA Wire
Biden pushes back against accusations that his mental state is suffering because of his age
Biden himself had already reacted angrily to the special investigator's assessment on Thursday evening at a short-term press conference in the White House.
“My memory is good,” replied the US President.
“I'm well-meaning, I'm an older man, and I know the hell I'm doing.
“I am the president and I got this country back on its feet,” Biden said.
Special investigator bases allegations against Biden on his “impaired” mental state
Hur had previously been appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate allegations against Biden that had been made against him because of alleged embezzled secret documents.
About a year ago, government documents from his time as vice president were discovered in the US president's private rooms.
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In his report, which ran to more than 300 pages, the special investigator assessed that no criminal charges were justified against Biden in the allegation of misappropriation of secret documents.
“I was pleased that the report firmly concluded that no charges should be brought against me in this case,” the president said.
“This was a thorough investigation.”
US President Joe Biden at a press conference in the White House © IMAGO/CNP/AdMedia
However, as a private citizen, the US President “intentionally retained and disclosed secret materials,” the report says.
The special investigator justifies that this will have no legal consequences, among other things, by the fact that Biden's memory was "significantly impaired" during the questioning.
The accusation against Biden is unfounded - but he still takes a stand on secret documents
Hur also cited the president's supposedly poor memory as an argument that a jury would never find him guilty in a hypothetical trial.
The US president was particularly emotional when he repeated a line from the special adviser's report that claimed Biden could not remember the year his son Beau died.
Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015 while his father was still vice president.
“How the hell dare he mention that?” Biden retorted.
And emphasized that he doesn't need anyone to remind him of his son's death.
During the press conference in the White House, the US President also commented on the fact that secret documents from his time as Vice President had been found in his private rooms.
“I take responsibility for not seeing exactly what my staff was doing,” Biden said.
"Things that showed up in my garage, things that came out of my house, things that were moved - were not moved by me, but by my employees," he explained.
The age of US President Biden is repeatedly made an issue
The age of the oldest president in US history is repeatedly brought into the media spotlight - the Republican side likes to exploit it when Biden attracts attention through verbal missteps or missteps.
It was only in November, after Biden's health status was made public, that Donald Trump taunted him and described him as "cognitively impaired".
Most recently, Biden confused the late former Chancellor Helmut Kohl with the former Chancellor Angela Merkel, and also the late French head of state François Mitterrand with the incumbent Emmanuel Macron.
At the press conference on Thursday evening, Biden made another blunder: He referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the “Mexican president.”
(Fabian Hartmann)