Fox & Friends dedicated a segment to discussing the special counsel report on President Joe Biden’s classified documents case, which will not lead to criminal charges. The hosts, Steve Doocy, Lawrence Jones, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade, reportedly echoed claims made by right-leaning commentators and politicians that the statement by special counsel Robert Hur implies Biden is incompetent to stand trial. However, Hur’s report did not explicitly make that assertion.
Hur’s report mentioned that at trial, Biden might present himself as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory, making it challenging to convince a jury to convict him. The hosts on Fox & Friends allegedly falsely claimed that Hur stated Biden was not competent to stand trial, even though Hur’s actual statement did not make that assertion.
The hosts referred to a clip from Biden’s press conference where Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked if Biden could “continue as president,” sparking questions about Biden’s memory from other reporters. Lawrence Jones argued that this validated concerns expressed by many, not just Republicans or those perceived as ageist.
Jones repeated the claim that if Biden can’t stand before a jury, he shouldn’t be able to stand for the American people as president or run for another term. The article contends that Hur’s report did not make a legal finding that Biden is mentally incompetent but rather suggested the difficulty of convincing a jury due to Biden’s sympathetic presentation.
So you can’t just dismiss it as Republican claims or people that are ageist and don’t like the president. This is a special counsel who decided not to charge the president, who also said, “I think it’s important for you guys to know part of the reason why I’m not charging him, because he wouldn’t even be able to stand trial.”
In summary, the Fox & Friends hosts are accused of misinterpreting Hur’s statement to imply that Biden is mentally incompetent, while the actual report focused on the challenge of convincing a jury in light of Biden’s perceived sympathetic image.
