Special counsel report referenced Biden as ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory’; unclear if foreign aid bill has votes to pass
Biden defends his memory in surprise speech after special counsel reportSix key takeaways from Biden special counsel report
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Yesterday was a doozy for Joe Biden. The president received what should have been good news when special counsel Robert Hur announced no charges were warranted after investigating the classified documents found at his residence last year. But Hur contained in his lengthy report several references to Biden not being able to remember things, and said one reason why he would not recommend prosecuting the president is because jurors would see him as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. At 81 years old, Biden’s age is expected to be a major factor on voters’ minds as he campaigns for re-election, and in an unscheduled late night speech, he hit back at Hur’s claims, saying “my memory is fine,” but also mixed up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico.
Meanwhile, we may hear more from Congress today on the chances of passing aid to Israel and Ukraine, one of the Biden’s priorities. The Senate took an initial step to approving the legislation yesterday, but it’s unclear if it has the votes to pass the chamber, and whether the GOP will insert hardline immigration policies (which the party had, bizarrely, rejected earlier this week). Even if the legislation does make it through, Republican House speaker Mike Johnson has not said that he will put it up for a vote.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Washington DC, and will meet with Biden at 3pm ET.
Now we wait for the supreme court’s decision on Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility, after the justices yesterday signaled they were skeptical of arguments to disqualify him for his involvement in January 6.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will take reporters’ question at 1pm.