Several liberals have dismissed the release of audio from former special counsel Robert Hur’s 2023 interview with then-President Joe Biden—highlighting moments of confusion and potential concern—as a political “distraction” from Donald Trump’s presidency, pointing instead to Moody’s Ratings recent downgrade of the U.S. government’s credit outlook.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House and the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware via email for comment on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Biden’s age remained a persistent concern throughout his time in office, resurfacing prominently ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Questions about his mental acuity intensified after a shaky debate performance against then-Republican nominee Donald Trump, and about a month later, Biden pulled out of the race.
Hur interviewed Biden in 2023 in relation to the discovery of Obama-era sensitive materials at Biden’s Delaware home and office he used in Washington, D.C. Last year, Hur described Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” further raising questions about Biden’s cognitive abilities.
Some Republicans have characterized the latest release as further evidence of what they allege is a “cover-up” and “scandal” surrounding Biden’s mental decline.
What To Know
Axios on Friday released audio of Biden’s interview with Hur, during which Biden pauses at times and appears confused about certain personal details, including the date of his son Beau’s death and the timing of Trump’s 2016 election.
The transcript of the interview was previously released in March 2024, however the audio was not. As of Saturday, over five hours of audio has now been released. Last year, Biden responded to Hur’s report and description of him as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” telling Fox News, “I’m well-meaning and I’m an elderly man and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been president and I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation—”
The audio of the interviewsdrew criticism from many Republicans, including GOP Representative James Comer of Kentucky, who wrote on X, formerly Twitter on Friday: “Democrats told you the Biden Hur audio tapes didn’t matter. Democrats told you Special Counsel Robert Hur was interfering in an election. Democrats told you over and over that Joe Biden was ‘sharp.’ The cover-up of Joe’s mental decline is a scandal of historic proportions.”
The release of the audio sparked backlash from some Democrats, who criticized the press for releasing the tapes and argued that it fuels a specific narrative and undermined Biden’s grief over the loss of his son.
Harry Sisson, liberal political social media influencer, replied to Axios reporter Alex Thompson’s post sharing the audio, “Seriously? You’re upset that a man speaks slowly when he’s reliving the death of his son? This isn’t journalism. It’s a hit piece.”
He later posted: “I truly hope that none of these MAGA supporters and journalists go through the pain that President Biden has faced in his life. Mocking a man for speaking slowly while he discusses his dead son? That’s f***** up. Shame on anyone who’s jumping on that ship right now.”
Another liberal dismissal of the audio came from journalist Aaron Rupar, who boasts nearly 1 million followers on X, who wrote Friday: “So to be clear about what happened here, the Trump White House released audio meant to make Joe Biden look bad to Axios hours after the US’s credit rating was downgraded. Trump wanted a distraction and the usual suspects in the press are happy to oblige.”
His post is in reference to Moody’s Ratings downgrading the U.S. government’s credit rating on Friday. The agency lowered the rating from its highest grade, Aaa, to Aa1, noting that while the U.S. still benefits from key strengths—such as a dynamic economy and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar—its fiscal outlook has significantly deteriorated.
Moody’s Ratings also warned that extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts—now a key priority for the Republican-led Congress—would add $4 trillion to the federal primary deficit over the next decade. Political gridlock remains a major obstacle to fiscal reform, with Republicans opposing tax increases and Democrats resisting spending cuts, leaving little room for bipartisan solutions.
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday: “Look, everybody understands the condition of him. I know people that are 89, 90, 92, 93 years old and are literally perfect. But Joe was not one of them, and they did a lot of hiding. They were, they were really playing games. And, you know, you can’t do that. Our country’s at stake.”
Joe Biden spokesperson Kelly Scully told Axios: “The transcripts were released by the Biden administration more than a year ago. The audio does nothing but confirm what is already public.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar wrote in a Friday X post: “Looking forward to reporters finding new ways to talk about Biden Old every day of the Trump presidency”
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of left-leaning MeidasTouch, wrote in a Friday X post: “I refuse to get distracted by trivialities like this when new stories are breaking about Biden struggling through a 2023 interview.”
In a second post, he wrote: “So we are on Year 6 of wall-to-wall ‘Biden is Old’ media coverage. Very exciting. Very relevant. Ratings gold.”
Fred Wellman, a retired U.S. Army officer and host of On Democracy with FPWellman podcast, wrote in an X post: “This is f***** up. This is how a son of a b**** that never lost a loved one handles someone else’s grief. F*** this.”
Chris Jackson, a Democratic strategist and public servant called out Thompson’s release of the audio in an X post, writing: “This isn’t journalism. It’s a reward for carrying water for Trump and relentlessly attacking Joe Biden. And the timing? Just hours after Moody’s downgraded our credit rating. Almost like they needed a distraction, and Alex was more than happy to play his part.”
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod posted to X on Thursday: “A lot of folks now are acknowledging what was obvious then: A guy, who was already showing frailties and would have been closer to 90 than 80 by the end of his second term should not have run for the hardest job on the planet. Never was going to end well.”
He continued: “Next to being President, the pressure of running for it is almost as hard. The idea that an 81-year-old man, already limited, could handle both–and then serve another four years–always was nuts. And the people closest to him did him no favor by not telling him the truth.”
Representative Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, wrote in an X post sharing the audio tapes: “Joe Biden was a demented, feeble, old man during his presidency. Who was running the country?”
Axios reporter Alex Thompson said during his White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech in April: “President Biden’s decline, and its cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House regardless of party is capable of deception. Being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsible for faith in the media at such lows.”
What Happens Next?
CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Thompson’s new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again is set to be released on May 20.
