One of the most difficult conversations one can have in life is with a parent or peer who is becoming too old and infirm to work. Whether the disability is physical or mental, your loved one is often the last person to realize their own deficiencies. He may therefore interpret a respectful and sincere concern as a personal attack.
This conversation is difficult enough when it happens entirely in private with friends and family. It’s infinitely more difficult when it happens in public and involves the President of the United States.
The main conclusion of the special prosecutor Robert Hur’s report regarding the discovery of classified information at Joe Biden’s home is a good thing for the president. He concluded, unequivocally, that “no criminal charges are warranted in this matter.” He said prosecution would be inappropriate “even if Justice Department policy did not preclude criminal prosecution of a sitting president.” The report even did the president a favor by clearly and unequivocally distinguishing his handling of classified documents from Donald Trump’s much worse misconduct in his own records retention affair.
But the report presents what could be a worse Biden’s assessment that the question of guilt, which is the description of one of the reasons why he will not be prosecuted: the special counsel concluded that Biden lacked the required degree of criminal will, in part because of his fading memory. The report called him “an elderly, well-meaning man with a poor memory” and said he had “faculties diminished with age.” To support this claim, the report provided damaging details, including claims that Biden could not remember the dates he was vice president and could not remember “even a few years later” the death of his son Beau.
The report understandably angered Biden, but in a fiery press conference after the report’s release, he confused the Egyptian president with the President of Mexico. In isolation, the gaffe was minor – less serious, for example, than Donald Trump’s recently. confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi – but the timing was terrible. An error which follows two incidents in recent days during which Biden confused the French and German leaders. with their deceased predecessorsonly reinforced the special prosecutor’s conclusions.
Democratic supporters might be furious that the special counsel was so blunt about Biden’s memory. But obstinacy and intent are necessary elements of the underlying crimes, so Hur had to explore Biden’s mental state and include illustrative details.
Witnesses are often asked to say “I don’t remember” when they do not remember all the relevant facts completely and accurately. I’ve taken countless depositions over the course of my career, and “I don’t remember” is one of the most common responses I’ve heard. In such cases, I do not assume that this person is unable to remember. However, by including details of Biden’s memory loss, Hur demonstrated that the president’s responses were far outside the norm. This is not to say that it was appropriate to include every embarrassing detail in the report. But including a few details were needed to support his legal conclusions.
Of course, none of this means that Trump is a better presidential candidate than Biden. But “better than Trump” is the lowest bar imaginable. Trump is a corrupt and confused 77-year-old who faces trial on dozens of counts in four separate criminal cases and was recently convicted of sexual abuse and defamation.
But I can know that Biden would be much better than Trump and I still worry that he won’t be up to the challenge of governing for another four years. “Better than Trump” does not mean he will continue to respond to profound foreign and domestic challenges with clarity and energy. “Better than Trump” doesn’t mean we can count on him to finish a second term. “Better than Trump” doesn’t even necessarily mean he can beat Trump in November.
What compounds the problem for Biden is that age is not a challenge that gets better with time. It’s likely that Biden’s memory and energy are better now than they will be next year, let alone four years. Additionally, millions upon millions of Americans have first-hand experience with the challenge of old age – either when their own minds and bodies finally slow down, or when they see it happen to their friends and loved ones. This same experience immunizes Americans against political spin on the issue. No matter how powerful your rhetoric, you cannot intimidate Americans based on a concern as obvious and relevant as that age matters.
Biden has an answer. He can show the scoreboard. He has solid arguments for re-election given the successes of his first term. I’m a conservative, so Biden, while absolutely preferable to Trump, was not my first choice for president. But I was mostly impressed by its management of conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. We’ve also seen enough legislative compromises during his administration to raise glimmers of hope that Congress could still function on occasion. And the American economy, even if it is far from perfect, is the envy of the world.
Biden’s record includes his share of missteps, notably at the border. But he can tell worried Americans that the best indicator of the next four years is the last four years, and that his verbal errors and stumbles are of little consequence compared to his accomplishments. This is certainly a valid argument. But Biden must do it himself, repeatedly and eloquently. The only real answer to the accusation that he is in decline is for him to publicly demonstrate that he is not.
If the prospect of Biden making this point alarms you — if you worry that he won’t be able to do it consistently and repeatedly on the campaign trail without triggering a cascade of errors and gaffes that make the problem worse – then it’s time to think. a different course of action. Should Biden step down?
Not only is this suggestion extremely delicate – as we saw in Thursday’s press conference, Biden is now very angry and defiant – but it would also trigger a cascading series of chaotic consequences for the Democratic Party. The party is expected to rerun a primary season, fight in a series of divisive state contests, then merge again, while Trump and the Republican Party prepare for the general election, raising money and lobbing rhetorical grenades at the Democrats divided.
The Democrats obviously want to avoid such an outcome. But Poll numbers for Biden are grim. Yes, there is good reason to think that his support could be at an all-time low, and that continued good economic news, combined with continued Republican dysfunction, could be enough to push him past Trump. But it is deeply concerning that Biden’s greatest weakness is the one he cannot change: his age.
