Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who is mounting a long shot primary challenge to Joe Biden, said special counsel Robert Hur's report on the president's mishandling of classified materials "all but handed the 2024 election to Donald Trump."
The 388-page report describes Biden as an "elderly man" with "diminished faculties"; Phillips said it confirms that he is unfit to serve another term in the White House.
"The Report simply affirms what most Americans already know, that the President cannot continue to serve as our Commander-in-Chief beyond his term ending January 20, 2025," Phillips said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
"Already facing the lowest approval numbers in modern history and losing in each of the key battleground states, this Report has all but handed the 2024 election to Donald Trump if Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee — and I invite fellow Democrats to face the truth," he continued.
He added that it was a "sad day" for Biden, his family, and America.
Hur's report concluded that, although Biden had "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" after leaving the vice presidency, "no criminal charges are warranted."
The special counsel wrote that the 81-year-old Democrat showed "significant limitations in memory" during his interviews in early October and could not recall key milestones in his life.
"He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended ('if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?'), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began ('in 2009, am I still Vice President?')," the report said. "He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died."
Hur argued that if brought to trial, Biden would present himself "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Angry and emotional, Biden railed against the contents of the report Thursday night, calling it "just plain wrong."
"I am well-meaning, and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing," Biden fumed in a rare evening address at the White House.
He then proceeded to call Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi the "president of Mexico" by mistake.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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