Hur said Biden couldn’t recall when his son died. The interview transcript is more complicated

Follow AP for live coverage of Hur’s testimony. Robert Hur, who had been appointed to investigate whether Biden mishandled classified documents, wrote that the president couldn’t recall in an interview with prosecutors the date when his adult son, Beau, died of cancer. When someone responded affirmatively, the president added, “It was 2015.” Biden aides defended the president’s inaccurate characterization of the interview during his press conference last month, describing his response as visceral and emotional. Asked why Biden angrily accused Hur of raising his son’s death when the transcript shows otherwise, White House spokesman Ian Sams responded that the president was being asked about Beau generally, including the book that the president wrote about his death and his cancer initiative that Beau inspired. Biden decided “I couldn’t handle” another run for president but he would “stay involved.” However, in a story that Biden has frequently told at fundraisers, he changed course after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 and Trump’s response that there were “very fine people on both sides.” Biden said that he is “the antithesis” of everything that “this guy stood for” and “I could beat him.” As he wrapped up the story, Biden wondered aloud whether Hur needed such a lengthy answer.