Former US President Joe Biden’s interview with former special counsel Robert Hur was released on Friday, May 16, in connection with his handling of classified documents. Although the probe concluded with no criminal charges due to insufficient evidence, the audio concludes him as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” which Hur had tagged him at the time. The audio includes long pauses, and at times, the sound of a clock striking is audible in the background.
While transcripts of Biden’s interview with Hur were made public last year, this is the first time audio excerpts from the sessions have been released. According to a Biden spokeswoman, the contents of the audio reflect what is already publicly known.
The timing, however, is important as it coincides with the upcoming book by CNN journalist Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. The book titled, ‘Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, highlight a decline in his health during his time in office.
Biden’s interview with special counsel
A 4.5-minute audio clip published by Axios, taken from a 2023 interview that spanned five hours over two days, reveals moments where Biden struggled with memory. He could not recall the year his son Beau died, whether he had retained a memo related to Afghanistan, or where he kept documents from his time as Vice President. Biden served as the 47th Vice President under President Barack Obama.
“I don’t know,” said Biden when asked where he had kept documents related to the matters he was actively working on. Not just this, he also digressed into unrelated topics, including the death of his eldest son and how people had encouraged him to run for president in 2016. He even asked why the year 2017 was important. That’s when someone reminded him that he had left the office that year. He had a hard time remembering when President Trump first assumed office.
‘Was it 2015 he had died?’ Biden on his eldest son’s death
At one point in the interview, Biden asked aloud, “What month did Beau die?” then added, “Oh, God, May 30…” When two people in the room prompted him with the year “2015,” he replied, “Was it 2015 he had died?” appearing uncertain about the year of his son’s death.
He also said that he wasn’t sure he knew he had kept a memo concerning Afghanistan, noting that he may have held onto it simply “for posterity’s sake”.
Shortly after, one person in the room, where the interview was taking place, clarified Biden’s remarks. “I just really would like to avoid, for the purpose of a clean record, getting into speculative areas. His recollection, as I understand it, is that he does not recall specifically intending to keep this memo after he left the vice presidency.”
‘Elderly man with a poor memory’
Although Hur declined to press charges against Biden in February 2024, he concluded that the former president had “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials”.
However, Biden and his allies have strongly rejected Hur’s claims, particularly the assertion that Biden couldn’t recall the year his eldest son died; calling it “inaccurate and unfair”.
President Donald Trump had earlier told reporters that Attorney General Pam Bondi and her team would determine whether the audio should be released.
“That’s up to Pam [Bondi] and the group. I haven’t really looked into it,” he said before departing Abu Dhabi. Trump is on his first major diplomatic tour since his return to the White House.
“Everybody understands his condition. I know people who are 89, 90, 92, 93 years old and are literally perfect. But Joe was not one of them, and they did a lot of hiding. They were really playing games. And, you know, you can’t do that. Our country’s at stake.”
Biden rejects claims
Biden, in an interview on ABC’s The View, has categorically denied the claims about his mental fitness, stating that “there is nothing to sustain that”.
“We continue to await anything that shows where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or where national security was threatened, or where he was unable to do his job. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite – he was a very effective president,” CNN quoted a Biden spokesperson as saying.