Biden takes jab at special counsel report with joke about his memory
President Biden on Monday joked about his memory and age during a speech to the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C.
Democratic strategists warned that Special Counsel Robert Hur's report on President Biden's handling of classified documents exacerbated concerns voters already had, and suggest the president be more engaged with the press.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that some political experts believe the White House didn't address the special counsel report fast enough.
"What we've seen from this White House is in a lot of ways attempting to do business as usual, to overcome adversity and bad narratives by ignoring them," Samuel Woolley, director of the University of Texas at Austin's propaganda research lab, told the media outlet.
"If Joe Biden is fine in the way they say he is, we should see more of Joe Biden being incredibly active and incredibly engaged with the press," Woolley suggested. "That would be quite a bit more sensible then constantly acting indignant."
President Joe Biden speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on Thursday, Feb. 8, in Washington, D.C., following the release of Hur's report. (AP/Evan Vucci)
JAMES CARVILLE ADVISES DEMOCRATS NOT TO 'TELL PEOPLE HOW GREAT THIS ECONOMY IS'
Democratic strategist James Carville said confirming an "existing suspicion" was one of the worst things that could happen to someone in politics.
"The most damning thing that can happen to you in politics is if you confirm an existing suspicion," he said, according to Reuters. "This is a problem that cannot get any better."
Carville said on Saturday that Biden's decision to turn down the Super Bowl interview opportunity was a "sign" the White House didn't have much confidence in him.
"It’s the biggest television audience, not even close, and you get a chance to do a 20-, 25-minute interview on that day," Carville began. "And you don’t do it? That’s a kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence in you."
James Carville weighed in on why President Biden wasn't sitting down for a Super Bowl interview. ("Real Time" screenshot / Reuters)
"There’s no other way to read this," he added.
Biden reportedly made the decision to speak to the press after the report dropped. One Democrat told Reuters that the White House's initial hesitancy to respond created room for others, even Democrats, to express concern.
"One could argue they should have signaled they wanted proactive aggressive pushback on the mental pieces from the beginning," a Democrat close to the White House told Reuters. "Initially I think people were shocked by the report ... And that time-lapse created space for hand-wringing by nervous Democrats."
President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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More than half of Americans believe Biden got "special treatment" in the special counsel investigation into his mishandling of classified documents, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll which found that 53% of Americans believe Biden got off easy because he is president. Roughly 29% of Democrats also agreed Biden got special treatment.
The results come after Special Counsel Robert Hur chose not to recommend charges against Biden for mishandling classified documents, in part because Biden could present himself to the jury as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
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