Back in early February of 2024, when Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on President Joe Biden and why he was declining to charge him over his improper storage of classified documents, President Biden held a now-infamous impromptu press conference in which he did everything from shout at reporters to confuse the presidents of Mexico and Egypt. He also shouted over allegations he couldn’t remember when his son Beau died.
As background, one of the claims of Special Counsel Hur in his report was that Biden’s memory was so bad that, during the interview, he seemed to forget when his son Beau died. The transcript of the interview that was released seemed to confirm that, as at one point in the interview, Biden brought up the death of his son Beau Biden, struggling to recall when that occurred. Biden said, “Well, um … I, I, I, I, I don’t know. This is what, 2017, 2018, that area?” Hur simply said, “Yes.”
Biden, continuing on the same topic of Beau and his tragic death, said, “Remember, in this timeframe my son is — either been deployed or is dying … And, and so what was happening, though — what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30.” A lawyer present, responding to that, said, “2015.” Biden, replying, said, “Biden: Was it 2015 he had died?”
During the impromptu February 8 press conference, President Biden lashed out at Hur’s claims about his memory in the report, particularly the claim that he couldn’t remember when Beau died. Beginning that angry part of the presser, he snapped, “In addition, I know there’s some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. There’s even a reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that!”
Continuing, he attempted to explain away his faulty memory as was revealed by the transcript, snapping that he thought Special Counsel Hur’s question on the matter was highly inappropriate and not any of his business. President Biden said, “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”
Then, embarrassingly, President Biden tried bringing up the rosary Beau gave him, but forgot from where it came, trailing off after trying to recollect that detail as proof of his memory. He said, “Let me tell you something. Some of you have commented — I wear, since the day he died, every single day, the rosary he got from our Lady of —”
For reference, he was probably trying to say, “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Describing the rosary from Beau in 2021, Biden said, “During my visits, I got to know Mexico a little bit and its people, and paid my respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe. As a matter of fact, I still have my rosary beads that my son was wearing when he passed.”
Watch President Biden sound off here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
