Fox & Friends dedicated a segment on Friday to discuss the special counsel report on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, revealing that it would not lead to criminal charges. Despite this outcome, the right-wing commentators and politicians seized upon one aspect of the report – the characterization of Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” – to argue that it implies his incompetence to stand trial.
Co-hosts Steve Doocy, Lawrence Jones, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade echoed this claim, attributing it to the statement made by special counsel Robert Hur. However, it is crucial to note that Hur’s report did not assert that Biden was considered incompetent to stand trial. In the report, Hur mentioned that, at trial, Biden might present himself as a sympathetic, elderly man with a poor memory, making it challenging to convince a jury to convict him of a serious felony requiring a mental state of willfulness.
While this statement by Hur reflects negatively on Biden’s memory, it does not equate to a declaration of his legal incompetence. Nevertheless, the Fox & Friends hosts continued to propagate this false claim during the segment.
During the discussion, the hosts referred to a clip from Biden’s press conference, where Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy questioned Biden about his ability to “continue as president.” Subsequently, other reporters joined in, raising concerns about Biden’s memory. Lawrence Jones argued that this reinforced what people have been saying all along, dismissing it as not just Republican claims or ageist sentiments against the president. He emphasized that the special counsel, by not charging the president, indicated that Biden wouldn’t be able to stand trial.
Jones reiterated this claim, suggesting that if Biden couldn’t stand before a jury, it raised questions about his ability to lead the American people and run for another four years. However, it’s essential to clarify that Hur’s statement focused on the difficulty of convincing a jury rather than an assertion of Biden’s mental incompetence, a distinct legal standard.
Hur’s report, while casting a negative light on Biden’s image, did not render a legal finding that the President of the United States is mentally incompetent. The events of the past 24 hours may have been unfavorable for Biden and his re-election campaign, but it is crucial to separate political implications from legal determinations.
In summary, the Fox & Friends segment contributed to the misinterpretation of the special counsel report’s findings, perpetuating a false claim about Biden’s supposed legal incompetence based on Hur’s statement about the challenges of prosecuting the president.
After 3 years of being told Americans are bad, it is refreshing to see someone celebrate this country and its citizens. I bleed red white and blue. There was a time we all did. I'm still waiting for the day we end the race, gender and income propaganda to finally realize we're… pic.twitter.com/kGEL2aSiBC
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) February 9, 2024
