MSNBC hosts rush to defend Biden, bash Special Counsel Robert Hur
A panel of MSNBC hosts rallied behind President Biden and took aim at Special Counsel Robert Hur following the release of the damning report that put a spotlight on Bidens "poor memory."
Members of the legacy media have seethed since the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur's damning report that fueled more questions about President Biden’s mental acuity, rushing to defend the 81-year-old against claims he doesn’t have the mental capacity to remember key details of his life.
On Thursday, Hur released his report, which did not recommend criminal charges against the president for mishandling classified documents. Hur, though, described Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
While many high-profile liberals have appeared panicked or concerned about the report, others have fumed at the media for covering the news, reprimanded Hur for mentioning the memory issues, or simply insisted Biden is just fine. The New York Times went with the "Republicans pounce" framing when covering Biden's reported memory issues.
The legacy media has seethed since the release of Special Counsel Robert Hurs damning report that fueled more questions about President Biden’s mental acuity. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
CNN brought back former legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin for the occasion, and he scolded Hur for making "unnecessary points" about Biden’s advanced age.
"Part of that report was an outrage, it was a disgrace. I mean, the idea that they that he would make such a big point of Biden being elderly is not something a prosecutor needed to do," Toobin said.
Toobin was so fired up about Hur’s report that the Biden campaign shared a clip of him bashing the Special Counsel on its social media platforms.
MSNBC’s Ari Melber stressed it's "standard ops" for those being the subject of an investigation to tell investigators, "I don't recall," but quickly accused Hur's critique of Biden's memory as being ageist.
"Do you want to get into the age thing? Let's call it what it is. This is ageism snuck into a report clearing the person of any wrongdoing," Melber said. "If you want to get the ageism, young people are told all the time by their lawyers, 'Hey, you're way better off leaning into I don't recall than possibly misstating something to a federal officer or under oath in this case.' So, it's a lot of derogatory stuff."
His MSNBC colleague Chris Hayes insisted Hur was "frustrated and angry" that he "didn't get more" from his probe into Biden so he made it about age before Rachel Maddow chimed in, declaring Biden still "rides a bike."
A panel of MSNBC hosts defended President Biden and took aim at Special Counsel Robert Hur, accusing him of injecting "ageism" into his report. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
New Republic writer Greg Sargent posted on X that, "Any news org that puts Biden's memory in the headline is actively rewarding Hur's bad faith and giving the Trump campaign what they want, when that bad faith and the Trump camp's glee over it should *itself* be the story."
Hur, throughout the more than 300-page report, said "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict" Biden of a serious felony "that requires a mental state of willfulness," and said he would be "well into his eighties," but some didn’t feel this was worthy of news coverage.
Former CNN analyst Asha Rangappa fumed, "Right now, CNN is debating Biden's ‘mental acuity’ instead of discussing the legal distinction between Biden's handling of classified documents and Trump's. Such a disservice to the American public in terms of the relevant differences between the candidates they will be voting for."
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann raged that Hur "should be fired immediately" for offering an "amateur medical opinion."
Hours after the damning report, Biden held a last-minute White House press conference and remained defiant. Reporters in the room irked Biden by asking about his memory, and concerns about his age with tough questions even coming from journalists employed by liberal outlets. However, left-leaning pundits on TV and social media were in damage-control mode.
Journalist Brian Karem, who was a regular thorn in Trump’s side during his time as a CNN contributor, praised Biden simply for showing up to defend himself.
"He stood. He took questions. He took responsibility. He pushed back. He defended himself without belittling anyone," Karem posted on X. "Tonight showed us the greatest weakness and strengths of the Biden presidency: He's good in front of the camera. He needs to show up more often."
New York Times magazine writer Jonathan Chait wrote that it was "a pretty effective performance by Biden."
During Biden’s presser that was intended to signal he’s not too told for the Oval Office, he referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the "president of Mexico."
This gaffe was no big deal to Chait.
"I share the concern about Biden's age, but IMO the Mexico comment is a who-cares. Non-old people make mistakes like that off the cuff all the time," Chait said.
Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan used Biden’s blunder to evoke Trump while dinging the media for covering the president’s mistakes.
"Whether you/we like it or not, these ongoing gaffes and the media’s coverage of these gaffes - while largely ignoring Trump’s mental health issues and fascist talk - will dog Biden’s presidential campaign for the rest of the year. Hope the Dems have a plan (or at least a plan B)," Hasan posted.
NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
Former CNN reporter John Harwood also defended the gaffe.
"Biden's press conference showed the same thing his performance in office has shown for 3 years: he can do the job," he wrote. "Mexico for Egypt meant nothing… but the GOP political apparatus is a bad-faith enterprise and mainstream press has been knocked silly by financial/political pressure."
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.