Is our President a likable elderly person?

Shannon Bohrer

(4/2024) When Robert Hur, a special counsel investigating President Biden’s criminal exposure for having classified documents, submitted his report, it was front-page news. As with our normal divisive political environment, Mr. Hur’s report did not disappoint but added to the contentious hostility. The report was released on February 7.

The report stated that President Biden would not be charged, which was not unlike the investigation and report of former Vice-President Pence’s possession of classified documents. However, there were a few additions. After stating that no charges would be filed, Special Counsel Hur expressed concerns about President Biden’s mental skills and capabilities.

The report asserted that President Biden had memory issues, that he could not remember when his son died, or when he served as vice-president. Hur described him as a "Well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory." The report also explained why prosecution was not recommended. The explanation included a "lack of evidence," which sounds logical, we tend not to charge people with crimes when there is a lack of evidence.

The report continued by saying, "The special counsel’s assessment that a jury would not have found that Biden acted with criminal intent given his ‘diminished faculties in advancing age.’" This last sentence seemed unusual, especially since it was written by the special counsel. A lack of "criminal intent," with or without any testimony, goes to the lack of evidence, and the "lack of evidence," is the reason for not recommending prosecution. Furthermore, why would the special counsel believe that the Vice-President would testify?

The report made a lot of news, which immediately resulted in some news sources vilifying the "old man" and others defending the "elderly statesman." I found the news on the topic was lacking. When I say lacking, there was nothing reported about memory ability. I never saw or listened to any news with memory experts, or medical experts on human cogitative abilities. It appeared that the news reporters, often repeating unflattering parts in the report, were satisfied with their own expertise on aging and memory.

It is fair to say that most of us have memory issues, maybe not to the extent referenced in the report, but the human mind is not a recorder. How many times have you forgotten what you had for lunch the previous day? When reporting on the special counsel’s report, the news outlets would have had some credibility if they had employed medical and cognitive experts on memory, but they did not.

As the reporting continued for days, we began hearing of Trump's memory issues. In a speech at the Pray Vote Stand Summit, the former President confused Barack Obama with Joe Biden. It did not get much attention since he has often confused the two. During another speech, he even said his opponent in 2015 was Barack Obama.

Trump has also confused Nancy Pelosi with Nikki Haley on multiple occasions. His confusion with names, places, and events is so frequent that the news outlets seem to expect it, with truly little comment. While Biden has a reputation for gaffs, Trump has a reputation for confusion with names, places, and facts. In a court case where he was being sued by E. Jane Carroll, he was asked to identify individuals in a photograph. He pointed to E. Jean Carroll and identified her as his ex-wife, Marla Maples. He once asked if Russia owned Finland and wanted to buy Greenland. Lately, he predicted that Biden would get us into "World War II." I thought it was over.

Last year, Trump repeated words attributed to President Orban, the President of Hungary, in a campaign event on Veterans Day. Accordingly, he said that "the Hungarian leader had been asked what advice he would give to "President Obama" about how to proceed in a world that "seems to be exploding and imploding." Trump said that Orban's response was that "Obama should immediately resign, and they should replace him with President Trump, who kept the world safe." See, even Orban can confuse names.

President Orban has ruled Hungary for 12 years. The government has been accused of eliminating media freedom unless the media praises the President. It has been widely reported that the elections have been rigged since they resemble those in Russia, and minority rights have been under attack. Trump considers President Orban a friend. On the world stage, Orban is regarded as an autocrat and a close friend of President Putin. When President Biden gave the State of The Union address in Congress last month, President Orban was visiting Trump at Mar-A-Lago.

Reporting about the mental lapses of both candidates and their ages often infers that someone with lapses in memory would be incapable of running the county. Since President Biden is in office, maybe we should examine his record. Then again, the same reporters commenting on age and memory issues may have forgotten Biden's record.

President Biden’s first term has been successful. He got us out of the COVID-19 pandemic and guided us out of stagnation and the expected inflation. All the experts predicted a recession, and it never happened. Instead, our economy grew, and fears of inflation have been rescinded. The United States has the best economy of any industrialized country. Inflation in January 2024 was 3.1 percent, and wages were growing at 5 percent, meaning wages were exceeding growth rates. Unemployment for Black workers fell to 5.9 percent, the lowest since 1972 when they began keeping records. In under four years, 14.3 million jobs were added since Biden took office.

Under President Trump, unemployment increased to 6.3 percent, and the economy lost 2.9 million jobs. The greatest job lost since Herbert Hoover. The international trade deficit that Trump railed against increased 40.5 percent while he was in office. Three million individuals lost their health insurance, and financially, the federal debt skyrocketed "from 14.4 trillion to 21.6 trillion." The added seven trillion debt was the largest in our history over a four-year period.

The reporting of mental lapses by both Biden and Trump and inferences that because of their ages, both should be incapable of running the county is blatantly false, at least for one candidate. Comparisons of the records of both candidates suggest that one candidate, Biden, is well suited to continue in the office. While Trump's record is not good, many continue to say they would like him to return.

The best argument for President Biden is his record during his first term. If a likable older person with a few memory issues has the record that President Biden has, has he not demonstrated that his age and experiences are valuable assets?