Special counsel alleged Biden couldn’t recall personal milestones. His response: ‘My memory is fine’

WASHINGTON — The longstanding concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and memory intensified on Thursday after the release of a special counsel’s report investigating his possession of classified documents. Yet even as Biden defended himself, he committed another gaffe while discussing the Israel-Hamas War and mistakenly referred to Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah El-Sissi as “the president of Mexico.” In ruling out prosecution of Biden over his retention of highly classified materials as a private citizen, the report from special counsel Robert Hur suggested he would seem too feeble to prosecute: “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.” Biden said the report’s descriptions of his memory and his son’s death were “extraneous commentary” that “had no place in this report.” About his son’s death, Biden said, “How in the hell dare he raise that?” “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn’t any of their damn business,” he said. I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone to remind me when he passed away.” In response to reporters’ questions about his memory, Biden disputed the report’s statements and said he’s “the most qualified person in this country to be president.” The White House also pushed back on the characterizations of Biden’s memory in a Feb. 5 letter from the president’s lawyers that was published in Hur’s report. “We do not believe that the report’s treatment of President Biden’s memory is accurate or appropriate,” the letter said.