GOP continues to question Biden’s mental competency
- A special counsel report called out Biden's age and memory
- He is the oldest president to have occupied the White House
- The GOP is also demanding transcripts from the special counsel
maylen
(NewsNation) — Republicans are working to keep questions about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness in the headlines but the Biden campaign is pushing back, touting the 81-year-old’s decades of experience as an asset.
Some Democrats have also raised the question of whether Biden’s age has become a liability, especially after the release of last week’s special counsel report highlighting his age and memory.
The White House has responded that Republicans are “wasting their time.” The administration is both discrediting the special counsel report’s claim that Biden is an old man with a poor memory, while at the same time brushing off headlines focused on Biden’s age.
But those same headlines are what Republicans are seizing to keep the focus on Biden’s main vulnerability as the 2024 race continues.
Three top House Republicans wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding a transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. They wrote, “We seek to understand whether the White House or President Biden’s personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions on the interview that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence directly linking the president to troublesome foreign payments.”
House Republicans are continuing to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings, seeking to find any direct evidence showing the president used his office to benefit his son Hunter Biden.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House counsel’s office is looking into the issue.
“House Republicans are wasting their time, continue to waste their time. And they’re not being serious to do their jobs,” Jean-Pierre said.
House Republicans have given the Department of Justice until next Monday at 5 p.m. to provide the transcript. If the department fails to do so, they say they are “prepared to complete the production of this material, if necessary.”
The DOJ confirmed to NewsNation it had received the letter but declined to comment any further.
NewsNation also learned House Republicans may call on Hur to testify, giving him the chance to respond on questions of whether Biden is fit for the presidency.
Also getting headlines was Biden’s decision to do an evening press conference last Thursday, with the White House being asked if they regretted sending him out there.
