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Biden’s ‘Angry’ Press Conference Made Hur’s Memory Report ‘Infinitely Worse’

© AP Photo / Carolyn KasterVIce President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during the 3rd Annual Black History Month Reception at the Vice President 's Residence at the Naval Observatory, Monday, Feb. 27, 2012, in Washington
VIce President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during the 3rd Annual Black History Month Reception at the Vice President 's Residence at the Naval Observatory, Monday, Feb. 27, 2012, in Washington - Sputnik International, 1920, 10.02.2024
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The fallout from US President Joe Biden’s emergency press conference on Thursday night might be even worse than the damning report itself, Ed Martin, former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party told Sputnik’s Final Countdown on Friday.
Biden’s press conference was held in response to the report issued by special counsel Robert Hur concluding that the President should not be charged for his handling of classified documents during and after his time as Vice President.
Among the reasons Hur decided against prosecution was that he felt Biden’s defense would present him as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” noting that during their interview the President’s memory was "significantly limited” and that “He did not remember when he was vice president.” The report quoted the President in a conversation that was recorded asking “If it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?” and “In 2009, am I still Vice President?”
It also notes that he couldn’t remember “even within several years” when his son Beau Biden died.
During the press conference, Biden slammed the report for containing “extraneous commentary” that has “no place in this report.” However, moments earlier he stopped midway through a sentence explaining where his deceased son got a rosary for him. “I wear, since the day he died, every single day, the rosary he got from our Lady of–” he said before abruptly pausing for a few seconds and then changing the subject to an annual Memorial Day service he and his family holds for Beau Biden.
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Biden also snapped at reporters, when one asked him how bad his memory was, Biden shot back “My memory is so bad, I let you speak.”
The decision to hold a press conference was motivated by anger, Martin argued, “He couldn’t control it because he was so angry [...] he made it infinitely worse.”
While Martin disagreed with co-hosts Ted Rall and Angie Wong that Biden may step down or be removed from office due to the report and subsequent press conference, he agreed that it may cause him to drop his bid for reelection.
“I don’t see how he runs for reelection. He may stay in office to the end, but now there’s a real specific case to try to say, ‘It’s over, Joe.’ But I don’t think he thinks it is. I don’t think his wife [thinks it is.]”
Wong asked if the 25th Amendment, which allows a President’s cabinet to remove the President from power if he or she is incapacitated, could be invoked in Biden’s case. Martin said he does not believe it will happen but that Democrats know how bad it looks.
“I do think Democrats believe that they’re in big trouble because of this, but I don’t know the path [to removal,]” he speculated. “Both parties[...] set up a system where the President is so darn powerful [...] if he doesn’t step away, and I don’t think he will, I think he is going to stay there.”
Martin later added that it is a “tragedy” that his family is allowing him to continue on in his current state.
When pressed, Martin did come up with one scenario that Democrats could use to convince Biden to drop out of the race: his former boss.
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“If Obama came out and said, ‘I’ve had enough. I’ve seen enough. This has to stop,’ then maybe. But I can’t imagine Obama doing that. [Or] maybe I can, I don’t know. That might be the Hail Mary.”
Martin also speculated that the Democratic convention could be a place to make the change. “The Democrats [could] go in and say ‘You know what? We don’t have a path forward here.’ But they’re out of time.” Martin argued. “Any move they make will look desperate, and part of the problem will be, [Biden] didn’t get this way yesterday, he’s been this way for [...] two years or three years. How could you do this to this country? And I think that’s how voters will feel.”
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