By Philip Wegmann | Real Clear Politics
The same week Joe Biden publicly confused two European leaders with their deceased predecessors and passed on the traditional softball Super Bowl Sunday interview, a new report from Special Counsel Robert Hur described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
The confluence of events raised further questions about the mental acuity of the 81-year-old executive, doubts that Biden did little to dispel in a defiant session with the press at the White House Thursday evening. Biden took particular umbrage with what he described as “extraneous commentary” contained in the report.
“My memory’s fine. My memory’s – take a look at what I’ve done since I became president,” Biden said sarcastically. “How did that happen? I guess I just forgot what was going on.”
The president took particular offense at the section in the report dealing with his memory about important personal events, including the years he served as vice president and when his son Beau passed away from cancer. “There’s even a reference that I don’t remember when my son died,” Biden said indignantly. “How in the hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought, ‘It wasn’t any of their damn business.’” Biden’s response would have been more convincing had he not blanked on the name of the church where he got the rosary he wears in honor of his son.