Democrats used Special Counsel Robert Hur’s hearing to go on the attack against Donald Trump – essentially arguing he is just as mentally unfit for office as President Joe Biden.
Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler played a one-and-a-half-minute video of Trump’s gaffes just minutes after Republican Chairman Jim Jordan played a video of Biden’s press conference addressing the report.
Democrats claim that Hur only mentioned Biden’s age in his report because he is a Republican – but some Judiciary Committee Republicans are angry that he did not recommend charges while others are slamming the double standard.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said he agrees with Hur’s decision not to charge Biden – but claims Trump shouldn’t have been charged either in his classified documents case.
The hearing Tuesday with Hur serves as an opportunity for Republicans to present their argument that he should have recommended charges against Biden in the classified documents case after a scathing report citing the president’s ‘poor memory’ and ‘diminished faculties’ as a reason not to go to trial.
Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler played a video of DonaldTrump’s gaffes to highlight how his slips are just as frequent as President Joe Biden’s
One gaffe included was when Trump mixed up Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi during a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on January 17, 2024
Meanwhile, Democrats argue that the mental slips and flubs during Biden’s five-hour interview with Hur was no less bad than Trump’s gaffes.
Both Democrats and Republicans essentially made the case that the other party’s candidate is too old or mentally unfit to be running for office. But by making these arguments they are seemingly unintentionally agreeing with the American public that there needs to be other options in 2024.
Biden is 81 and would be 82 at the start of a second term and Trump is 77. Both have increased numbers of verbal gaffes and Biden has had a series of embarrassing trips and falls.
‘After opening his home to federal investigators… President Biden volunteered to sit through a five-hour interview with the special counsel,’ Rep. Nadler (D-N.Y.) gave credit to the president, admitting: ‘I believe, as is his habit, that President Biden probably committed a verbal slip or two during the interview.’
‘And I’m not sure any of that matters because when the interview was over, Mr. Hur completely exonerated President Biden,’ the ranking member added.
‘And then, there is Donald Trump,’ he lamented. ‘What kind of man bungles, not one, but dozens of opportunities to avoid criminal liability. What does that say about his mental state? Here too, the record speaks for itself.’
A video then played in the hearing room of Trump’s verbal flubs, including a series of saying at different times: ‘I don’t remember.’
Just moments earlier, Rep. Jordan (R-Ohio) played a video of Bidne’s press conference after the report was released where he denied and contradicted much of Hur’s findings.
Hur’s report described Biden as a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,’ which drew condemnation from Democrats who say the special counsel didn’t need to muse on the president’s age.
Democrats also tore into Special Counsel Robert Hur for being a Republican and say he harped on Biden’s age in his report in an attempt to get get Trump reelected
‘I knew that for my position to be credible I could not simply announce that there would be no charges, I needed to explain why. I needed to show my work,’ Hur explained his decision on his assessment.
In Biden’s post report press conference at the White House last month, he said: ‘I’m well-meaning and I’m an elderly man and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been president and I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation.’
‘My memory is fine,’ he insisted.
Democrat lawmakers tore into Hur during the hearing for being a Republican and claimed his report was intentionally biased. They insist the special counsel is working to get Trump reelected so he can climb the government ladder.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) asked about Hur’s party affiliation, to which he replied: ‘I am a registered Republican,’ and received applause from one attendee.
‘You’re doing everything you can do to get President Trump reelected so that you can get appointed as a federal judge, or perhaps to another position in the Department of Justice. Isn’t that correct?’ Johnson questioned.
‘Congressman, I have no such aspirations, I can assure you,’ Hur replied.
‘And I can tell you that partisan politics had no place, whatsoever, in my work,’ he added from the witness stand. ‘It had no place in the investigative steps that I took, it had no place in the decision that I made and it had no place in a single word of my report.’
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) suggested Hur knew his words would ‘create a political firestorm’ and that he was intentionally inflammatory.
But Hur said if he left out statement’s regarding Biden’s memory the report would be ‘incomplete and improper.’