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On Thursday, Joe Biden attempted to dismiss worries about his cognitive abilities and recollection during an unexpected media briefing, but he committed an obvious error that weakened his passionate defense of his competency.
While alone, it may have been viewed as a small instance of the president misspeaking, it occurred at a highly inopportune time.
On Thursday evening, he addressed the press following the publication of a special prosecutor’s report regarding the investigation into his management of classified materials found at his residence and workplace at a think-tank in the DC area. The 388-page report did not accuse the president of any wrongdoing or suggest any legal actions, but raised concerns about his ability to recall significant information about his personal life and tenure in the White House during the years 2009-2017 under Barack Obama.
One particularly emotional section, which quickly gained attention in Washington DC, stated that the special counsel, headed by Robert Hur, claimed that the president was unable to remember “even after several years” when his son, Beau Biden, passed away. Beau, the president’s oldest son who had his own political aspirations, died from brain cancer at the age of 46 in 2015.
During a speech addressing a hostage situation, President Biden mistakenly referred to Mexico as Egypt.
There were also mentions of Mr. Biden potentially having difficulty recalling the time period of his vice presidency.
On Thursday, two different versions of Mr. Biden were seen as he pushed back against those descriptions. The initial version appeared during a closed-door meeting with House Democrats, where the president was described as passionate and frustrated as he vehemently dismissed Mr. Hur and his team’s findings. According to The Washington Post, he reportedly exclaimed, “How could I possibly forget the day my son passed away?!”
A different, slightly calmer version of Biden was seen at his press conference earlier in the evening. This version, although he briefly argued with Fox’s Peter Doocy, lacked the energy of his previous appearance; he was the same Mr. Biden that reporters and Americans are used to.
Mr Biden strongly stated, in what was his most powerful moment of the evening, “There is even a mention that I cannot recall, about when my son passed away – how dare he bring that up?”
In the aftermath of Mr. Biden’s public appearance, there was a significant moment that caused a stir on political Twitter. He mistakenly referred to Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the president of Mexico and criticized him for not providing enough escape routes for Gaza Strip refugees during Israel’s siege.
The sight was difficult to watch and caused a stir among Mr. Biden’s critics on social media.
Even Democratic staff members on Capitol Hill who supported Mr. Biden’s accidental misinformation found themselves recognizing the extent of the president’s most recent blunder.
In simple terms, the Biden campaign hoped for a specific version of the president to make an appearance tonight. This version was the passionate and angered Joe Biden who is often seen behind closed doors and in meetings with Congress, but rarely on the campaign trail. However, they were met with the opposite – a president who appeared tired of constant criticism about his energy and health, but unable to effectively defend himself against them.
As Mr. Biden increases his frequency on the campaign trail this spring and summer, he and his team must find a way to convey that energy to the general public. However, as demonstrated tonight, there is cause for concern every time he speaks into a microphone.
Source: independent.co.uk
