Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) has insisted Joe Biden’s apparent failure to remember when his son Beau died is completely “understandable” for a man of his age and position.
Appearing for an interview on ABC News on Thursday, Goldman reacted to a statement by Special Counsel Robert Hur in his report that President Joe Biden “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.”
“Obviously, the President knows when his son died. … If he had a momentary blip where he couldn’t remember it as his mind is racing from the war in the Middle East to the questions that he’s been asking, I think that’s understandable for any of us.”
Goldman also reacted to the report’s conclusions that Biden had likely acted illegally in his handling of classified information but that criminal charges are unwarranted because of his age and fragility:
The rest of it was very slanted, partisan editorializing by a Republican-appointed prosecutor. The material that he was talking about his memory was completely irrelevant to what his charging decision was. He was editorializing about why the President wrote his memoirs.
Throughout the entire thing, he elides over what are clear exculpatory facts. And the reality is that there is no evidence that the President knew that he had classified materials in his possession when he was not authorized to have them…[s]o, this is 379 pages that really needed about 10 pages to be concluded.
In a press conference on Thursday evening, Biden reacted angrily to the report’s findings and the suggestion that he had forgotten when his son died.
“There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How the hell dare he raise that?” he remarked. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it isn’t any of their damn business.”
According to Goldman, Biden did a “very good job” of refuting the claims against him:
The extraneous material that he’s talking about his memory — and I think the President did a very good job of refuting it — is not only uncalled for, but unnecessary and personal. Obviously, the President knows when his son died. That was an incredibly traumatic moment for him. If he had a momentary blip where he couldn’t remember it as his mind is racing from the war in the Middle East to the questions that he’s been asking, I think that’s understandable for any of us.
Goldman was far from the only Democratic politician to give their reaction to yesterday’s news.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who is running a long-shot campaign against Biden for the Democratic nomination, admitted that a crime “appeared” to have been committed but that the special counsel made the right decision in deciding not to bring charges.
“I respect President Biden. I think he’s suffered a lot of tragedy in his life,” Phillips explained. “This has got to be awfully difficult to invoke his son Beau. It appears a crime was committed, but I’ve got to tell you, I felt just like a human watching that, and it was sad. And I think most of the country shares that.”
