The White House on Friday launched an attack on the special counsel’s report that gave new ammunition to Republicans and critics of President Biden over his age and suitability.
Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House Office of Counsel, who rarely appears at the podium, characterized Biden in special counsel Robert Hur’s report as an elderly man with memory problems. He strongly criticized the “baseless” article.
Mr. Sams harshly criticized a report that recommended not charging Mr. Biden over his handling of classified documents over his age-related comments, which were seized upon by Republicans.
“If the inevitable conclusion is that the facts and evidence do not support any of the charges, then one wonders why this report spends so much time making unwarranted and inappropriate criticisms of the president.” said Sams.
The White House suggested Friday that the remarks about Biden’s age and memory represented a political attack.
Sams did not target Xu’s motives in his remarks, but Vice President Harris in previous remarks called the report a “politically motivated” report and questioned Xu’s sincerity. attacked. Although Hur was appointed to the government post by former President Trump, it was Attorney General Merrick Garland who appointed him as special counsel.
“Thus, the characterization of the president’s behavior in that report could not be more factually incorrect and is clearly politically motivated,” Harris said. “So when it comes to the role and responsibilities of prosecutors in situations like this, I would say that we should expect a higher level of integrity than we’ve seen in the past.”
Biden appeared on television in front of reporters Thursday night and expressed his anger about the report. However, during his appearance, he stumbled and confused the Egyptian president with the Mexican president.
The president slammed the special counsel’s inclusion of comments about his memory, and slammed parts of the report in which Xu claims Biden forgot about his son Beau Biden when he died. He seemed accusatory and emotional.
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Age has become a major political issue for the 81-year-old president, who is likely to run against 77-year-old former President Donald Trump in November.
Opinion polls have consistently shown that voters doubt Biden’s suitability for the presidency, and Ho’s report gave Trump and his allies enough ammunition to launch attacks.
Mr. Sams argued that the public would understand that Mr. Heo’s report contained inappropriate comments.
“I think the people are smart and I think they understand what’s going on,” he said.
“I think they understand that. I think they understand that when people … make comments that shouldn’t be made, that are beyond the prosecutor’s authority,” Sams added. “I think they understand…the president did the right thing here.”
The White House retracted a poll showing voters thought Biden was too old for a second term and instead cited his accomplishments as president.
Mr. Biden spoke with Mr. Xu shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th.
Asked why Biden didn’t postpone the press conference because he was busy, Sams said, “The president was trying to be sociable.”
Mr. Sams also claimed that the special counsel at the time said he knew from the beginning of the interview that the president was dealing with a lot.
Biden angrily defended his memory in remarks Thursday, slamming the special counsel’s inclusion of information about his memory during interviews.
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