Jumat, 09 Februari 2024

Tucker Carlson: Putin takes charge as TV host gives free rein to Kremlin - BBC

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Vladimir Putin lectured, joked and occasionally snarled - but not at his host.

Tucker Carlson laughed, listened - and then listened some more.

During the American's much-hyped encounter with the Russian president, his fixed, fascinated expression slipped a few times.

Especially when Putin's promise of a 30-second history lesson became a 30-something minute rant.

But for the most part, Carlson seemed to lap up what Russia's president was telling him.

Putin was fully in charge of this encounter and for large parts of it his interviewer barely got a word in.

Instead of pushing the Russian leader - indicted as a suspected war criminal - on his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and challenging his false assertions, Carlson swerved off-piste to talk God and the Russian soul.

Journalist Evan Gershkovich

The American had touted his sit-down with Putin as a triumph for free speech, asserting that he was heading where no Western news outlets dared to tread.

That's untrue. The Kremlin is simply highly selective about who Putin speaks to. It will almost always choose someone who knows neither the country nor the language and so struggles ever to challenge him.

Carlson's claim also ignored the fact that Russia's president has spent the past two decades in power systematically stamping out free speech at home.

Most recently, he made it a crime to tell the truth about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Multiple critics - Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin and many more - are in prison right now for doing just that.

gershkovich in court
Reuters

It was a full two hours into his interview before the former Fox News anchor asked about the US journalist Evan Gershkovich. He was arrested last year in Russia while doing his job and accused of espionage.

Carlson suggested Vladimir Putin might release the reporter into his custody, providing a trophy to return with from his trip.

What Putin gave was the strongest hint yet of what he wants in return.

He talked about a Russian "patriot" who had "eliminated a bandit" in a European capital, seeming to confirm previous reports that Russia is demanding a prisoner swap with Vadim Krasikov.

The assassin, a suspected Russian intelligence agent, killed a Chechen separatist in a Berlin park in 2019.

Putin claimed negotiations were under way and "an agreement could be reached".

We already know those complicated talks are not new, involve three countries and likely at least two American prisoners.

Russian history lectures

The whole encounter in the Kremlin opened with a history lecture.

Putin wrote a long essay before the war that denied Ukraine's existence as a sovereign state. He now appears to have learned it by heart.

He delivered his thesis, eyes burning with conviction, as Carlson's own burned with boredom and disbelief.

For fans who managed to stay tuned any longer, the reward was a re-run of Putin's top, twisted arguments.

He aired his regular grievance about Nato expanding east into what Russia sees as its area of influence. "We never agreed Ukraine could join Nato," as Putin put it.

But it's having an aggressive, unpredictable neighbour like Russia that's led Ukraine to seek extra security.

Putin has always characterised the mass public protests in Kyiv a decade ago as part of a Western-backed "coup", which they were not.

He also called the fighting in the eastern Donbas that Moscow provoked a civil war.

Vladimir Putin and Tucker Carlson
Reuters

It's all part of how Putin justified his full-scale invasion, almost two years ago - along with "de-Nazifying" Ukraine, which he claimed is still a work in progress.

Kyiv fiercely disputes every word of it.

At one point Putin insisted "relations between the two peoples will be rebuilt. They will heal."

But I've met many Ukrainians who spoke Russian before the invasion and often travelled there.

After two years of unprovoked fighting and missile attacks, they've switched language in droves and tell me they feel nothing but hatred.

It's just one example of how far Vladimir Putin is from actual facts and reality. Just like in February 2022, when he sent Russian troops rolling on Kyiv thinking they'd be greeted as liberators.

Ukraine peace chances

It seems Putin agreed to this chat from a position of relative strength.

The fighting in Ukraine has stalled. Kyiv's allies in the West have been dithering over continued military aid, especially the US.

President Zelensky just sacked his commander-in-chief, talking of the need for a reset and renewal in the war effort.

The situation is precarious.

So there was plenty of swagger from Putin about how Russia is "ready for dialogue" and "willing to negotiate".

He wants to capitalise on any hesitancy among Ukraine's supporters and any doubts among Ukrainians themselves about going on fighting.

"Sooner or later this will end in agreement," was Putin's message, arguing that Nato was coming to realise that defeating Russia on the battlefield would be impossible.

It's all classic Putin and Tucker Carlson let him roll with it.

Not all interviews need to be combative. There is merit in letting people speak and reveal themselves. But this one took that concept to the extreme.

None of Putin's statements were challenged in essence.

None of the actual facts of his all-out invasion were presented to him, including allegations of war crimes in Bucha, Irpin and far beyond.

A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles on a street on April 06, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine.
Getty Images

Nor did he have to answer for the "high precision missiles" that slam into homes in Ukraine, killing civilians.

The American did not push Putin at all on political repression at home, which includes locking up vocal opponents of the war in jail.

Excitement

The way Carlson was feted in Moscow was extraordinary. There was breathless coverage of his every move from the same TV hosts who usually rail against the West as a mortal enemy.

Like a spurned lover, suddenly given attention, Russia was excited.

And it seems Carlson was moved by his experience, too.

His interview, which included a question about the supernatural, ended with Putin talking about souls.

Both men fell silent for several seconds, before Russia's leader broke the spell.

"Shall we end here?"

Carlson blinked. "Thank you, Mr President."

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Pakistan election: Early results give Imran Khan supporters the edge after count delays - Sky News

Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan are slightly ahead in early election results, after vote counts were hit by delays following a mobile phone shutdown.

On Friday morning, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced 124 results for the 265 contested seats in the National Assembly.

Independent candidates, who mostly owe allegiance to Mr Khan, were in the lead with 49 seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League party of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif had 39 seats.

Television crew prepare in front of of a big screen showing results of country's parliamentary elections at Pakistan Election Commission headquarters, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. The results of Pakistan's elections were delayed a day after the vote that was marred by sporadic violence, a mobile phone service shutdown and the sidelining of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Image: Pic: AP

Some 30 seats were taken by the Pakistan Peoples Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto.

The rest were won by small parties or non-aligned independents.

More results continue to come in.

Mr Khan is in prison and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was barred from Thursday's election, so his supporters stood as independents.

More on Imran Khan

Analysts have predicted there may be no clear winner in the election, adding to the troubles of a country struggling to recover from an economic crisis while it wrestles with rising militant violence against a polarised political backdrop.

Karachi's stock index and government-issued sovereign bonds fell as a result of the uncertainty.

Pakistan's election explained: A prisoner, a kingmaker and an unexpected return

An "internet issue" caused the holdup in counting votes after polls closed, according to Zafar Iqbal of the ECP.

The government said it suspended mobile phone services ahead of the election on Thursday as a security measure, and they were being partially restored.

People read morning newspaper to know about the early results of parliamentary elections at a stall in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. The results of Pakistan's elections were delayed a day after the vote that was marred by sporadic violence, a mobile phone service shutdown and the sidelining of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Image: Pic: AP

The main battle was expected to be between candidates backed by Mr Khan, whose PTI won the last national election, and the PML of Mr Sharif.

Mr Khan believes the country's powerful military is behind a crackdown to wipe out his party, while analysts and opponents say Mr Sharif is being backed by the generals.

The armed forces has dominated the nuclear-armed nation either directly or indirectly in its 76 years of independence but in recent years has maintained it does not interfere in politics.

Mr Sharif, considered by many observers to be a strong candidate, dismissed talk of an unclear result.

He said: "Don't talk about a coalition government. It is very important for a government to get a clear majority... it should not be relying on others."

Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Pic: AP
Image: Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Pic: AP

If the election does not result in a clear majority for anyone, as analysts are predicting, dealing with challenges facing the country could prove difficult.

These include seeking a new bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the current arrangement expires in three weeks.

Thousands of troops were deployed on the streets and at polling stations across the country for the voting on Thursday.

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Pakistan blasts leave dozens dead

Borders with Iran and Afghanistan were temporarily closed as security was stepped up.

Despite the heightened security, 12 people, including two children, were killed in 51 bomb blasts, grenade attacks and shootings by militants, mostly in the western provinces, the military said in a statement.

Caretaker interior minister Gohar Ejaz said: "Despite a few isolated incidents, the overall situation remained under control, demonstrating the effectiveness of our security measures."

Washington was concerned about "steps that were taken to restrict freedom of expression, specifically around internet and cellphone use", State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

The US strongly condemned election-related violence both in the run-up to the polls and on election day, he added.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres also expressed concern about the violence and the suspension of mobile phone services.

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Biden mixes up Mexico and Egypt at surprise presser to address claims of memory loss - The Independent

Biden addresses special counsel classified documents report

An angry and animated Joe Biden hit back at a Republican prosecutor’s claim that his memory is faulty during a last-minute and at-times chaotic press conference on Thursday.

The president hit out at parts of the report released earlier in the day by Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur into his handling of classified documents and became enfuriated at a suggestion that he did not remember the year his late son, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer.

Later, while making reference to war in the Middle East, Mr Biden appeared to confuse Mexico with Egypt, declaring: “The president of Mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced to open the gate.”

Mr Hur’s report concluded that Mr Biden will not face charges for “willfully” holding onto documents after he left office as Barack Obama’s vice president in January 2017.

It stated that the materials included files on military policy in Afghanistan and handwritten notes on national security, also suggesting that Mr Biden would look like an “elderly man with a poor memory” to a jury if he were to be hit with criminal charges.

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Watch as Biden responds to report at Virginia rally

Biden addresses special counsel classified documents report
Katie Hawkinson9 February 2024 11:00
1707469200

Classified documents by dog bed, memory troubles and ghostwriter deleting files: Takeaways from Biden report

Overwhelmed by the 388-page PDF document released by Special Counsel Robert Hur today?

Don’t worry.

From John Bowden, check out the key takeaways from Mr Hur’s report:

Katie Hawkinson9 February 2024 09:00
1707462000

In pictures: Classified documents found in Biden’s garage and home

Check out some of the key photos from Robert Hur’s report, from The Independent’s Ariana Baio:

Katie Hawkinson9 February 2024 07:00
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Biden mixes up Mexico and Egypt at surprise presser to address claims of memory loss

President Joe Biden appeared to confuse Mexico with Egypt, in a press conference on Thursday called to refute allegations of his poor memory.

Mike Bedigan has the full story:

9 February 2024 06:00
1707456633

Analysis: Joe Biden just denied he was mentally unfit – then made things even worse

In the wake of the classified documents report from Special Counsel Robert Hur, the president sought to convince voters there were no problems with his memory. Instead, Joe Biden did exactly what his team had been hoping to avoid, writes John Bowden in Washington DC.

Read his full report here:

Mike Bedigan9 February 2024 05:30
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ICYMI: Personal counsel to Joe Biden responds to report

Bob Bauer, personal counsel to President Joe Biden, criticised the investigation in a statement Thursday.

“The Special Counsel could not refrain from investigative excess, perhaps unsurprising given the intense pressures of the current political environment,” Mr Bauer said in a statement. “Whatever the impact of those pressures on the final Report, it flouts [Department of Justice] regulations and norms.” Mr Bauer also said Mr Biden gave his “unprecedented” cooperation to the investigation.

“The Special Counsel also noted the President’s complete cooperation, including the President’s unprecedented decision to open up every room of his family home and beach house to comprehensive FBI searches as well as a voluntary interview conducted over two days,” Mr Bauer said.

Katie Hawkinson9 February 2024 05:01
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In pictures: Joe Biden’s dramatic surprise press conference

<p>Joe Biden surprise press conference</p>

Joe Biden surprise press conference

Mike Bedigan9 February 2024 04:30
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ANALYSIS: Joe Biden took Afghanistan notes he believed were ‘the most important decisions’ from his vice presidency

The actual contents of the president’s classified stash appear to have been wholly centred on, in retrospect, one of the key moments of the Obama-Biden administration. In 2009, the Democratic president undertook a controversial decision to surge troops to Afghanistan in the hopes of driving Taliban forces out of the country entirely; a decision which many saw as an about-face given Barack Obama’s campaign promise to end the war in Iraq. Mr Biden was one of the loudest voices against that decision at the time, a view which appears vindicated given the Taliban’s takeover of the country in 2021 after Donald Trump began a withdrawal of US contractors and military forces in the final year of his presidency. And the materials the president “removed from the ordinary flow of paper” at the White House were split into two categories: His own, personal, handwritten notes detailing his thinking at the time; and actual documents marked with clear classification labels. One specific document found by FBI agents was a handwritten memo penned by Mr Biden for then-President Obama summing up his arguments against the 2009 troop surge.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden retained these documents because he saw them as a central part of his legacy in the White House, investigators wrote in the report.

“Mr. Biden had a strong motive to keep the classified Afghanistan documents. He believed President Obama’s 2009 troop surge was a mistake on par with Vietnam. He wanted record to show that he was right about Afghanistan; that his critics were wrong; and that he had opposed President Obama’s mistaken decision forcefully when it was made-that his judgment was sound when it mattered most,” read the Hur report.

But some were stored unceremoniously and in a clearly unsecured fashion in the Biden household, wrote investigators.

Read more about the key takeaways from the report:

Katie Hawkinson9 February 2024 04:00
1707449433

Biden isn’t the only US politician to make Middle-Eastern mix-up

President Biden is not the only one to have made Middle-Eastern mix-ups.

Last week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appeared to confuse Iran with Israel while appearing live on Meet the Press...

Mike Bedigan9 February 2024 03:30
1707447600

Read the full report from Special Counsel Robert Hur

Katie Hawkinson9 February 2024 03:00

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Putin rants about Ukraine, US reporter, and history in Tucker Carlson interview: Live - The Independent

Putin calls Ukraine an ‘artificial state shaped at Stalin’s will’

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who started with a long diatribe on Russian history and its relationship with Ukraine.

The two-hour, seven-minute interview was recorded on 6 February and released in full shortly before 6pm ET on Thursday. Carlson travelled to Moscow for Putin’s first interview with a Western media figure since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Putin repeated his argument that Ukraine wasn’t a real country which was shaped by the “will” of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

When Carlson requested that jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich be allowed to return to the US with Carlson and his crew as a show of “goodwill” from Putin, the Russian leader said that his “goodwill” had run out, complaining about the lack of reciprocity from the West.

Asked why he doesn’t call President Joe Biden and work out a solution in Ukraine, Putin asked: “What’s there to work out?”

“Stop supplying weapons and it will be over within weeks,” he added.

Putin also claimed that peace talks had at one point “reached a very high stage of coordination of positions ... they were almost finalized”.

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In video: Putin repeatedly claims Evan Gershkovich received classified information

Putin repeatedly claims Evan Gershkovich received classified information

Vladimir Putin claimed that jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich had been caught “red-handed” with classified information that he had obtained from one of his sources in a clandestine manner. In a conversation with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, the Russian president denied that the Wall Street Journal reporter was innocent of the espionage charges for which he remains imprisoned. The newspaper and other US news outlets strongly deny any wrongdoing by Mr Gershkovich. They say his activities fell strictly under the umbrella of legitimate journalism. “He was caught red-handed when he was receiving this information,” Putin told Mr Carlson.

Namita Singh9 February 2024 08:20
1707465600

Putin claims ‘Ukraine is an artificial state that was shaped at Stalin’s will’

Interrupting Putin’s history monologue, Carlson asked: “You obviously have encyclopedic knowledge of this region, but why didn’t you make this case for the first 22 years as president that Ukraine wasn’t a real country?”

“The Soviet Union was given a great deal of territory that had never belonged to including the Black Sea region, received Bucha at some point, when Russia received them as an outcome of the Russo-Turkish wars, they were called New Russia ... but that does not matter. What matters is that Lenin the founder of the Soviet state ... established Ukraine that way,” Putin said.

“For decades the Ukrainian Soviet Republic developed as part of the USSR. And for unknown reasons, again, the Bolsheviks were engaged in Ukrainian causation. It was not merely because the Soviet leadership was composed to a great extent of those originating from Ukraine. Rather, it was explained by the general policy of indigenisation pursued by the Soviet Union,” the Russian leader added.

“Same things were done in other Soviet republics. This involves promoting national languages and national cultures, which is not a bad in principle,” he said. “That is how the Soviet Ukraine was created. After World War Two Ukraine received in addition to the lands that had belonged to Poland before the war, both of the lands that had previously belonged to Hungary and Romania – So Romania and Hungary had some of their lands taken away and given to the Soviet Ukraine, and they still remain part of Ukrainian.”

“So in this sense, we have every reason to affirm that Ukraine is an artificial state that was shaped at Stalin’s will,” Putin claimed.

In November 2022, Olesya Khromeychuk, a historian and the director of the Ukrainian Institute London, wrote in The New York Times: This historical experience — of statelessness and struggle, repressive external rule and hard-won independence — has shaped Ukraine into the nation we see today: opposed to imperialism, united in the face of the enemy and determined to protect its freedom. For the people of Ukraine, freedom is not some lofty ideal. It is imperative for survival.”

In May 2022, US historian Stephen Schlesinger wrote in PassBlue: “Seven years before his death, in preparation for the Soviet Union joining the newly formed United Nations, Stalin advanced the proposition that Ukraine was an independent state.”

“His pronouncement came about during the conference that established the UN in San Francisco in the spring of 1945. There, Stalin demanded that Ukraine be admitted to the body as a separate, distinct nation with all the rights and privileges that come with full membership, including its own ambassador and participation as a member state in all UN sessions,” the historian added. “Stalin’s stance initially grew out of the Dumbarton Oaks conclave, which was held in Washington a year earlier, where the four sponsoring nations of the UN — Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and China — met to draft the UN Charter.”

Gustaf Kilander9 February 2024 08:00
1707464613

Humanity needs to think about advances in genetics and AI: Putin

Vladimir Putin said the world was changing faster than during the collapse of the Roman Empire, mentioning advances in genetic research and artificial intelligence. He said geneticists could create a “superman” and quipped that Elon Musk had put a chip in a human brain.

But he said that humanity needed to think about what to do about the advances in genetics and artificial intelligence and suggested the nuclear arms control treaties of the Cold War could be a guide.

“When there arises an understanding that the boundless and uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence or genetics or some other modern trends, cannot be stopped, that these researches will still exist just as it was impossible to hide gunpowder from humanity... when humanity feels a threat to itself, to humanity as a whole, then, it seems to me, there will come a period to negotiate at the inter-state level on how we will regulate this,” Mr Putin said.

Namita Singh9 February 2024 07:43
1707464447

What did Putin say about war with Ukraine?

After a half-hour lecture on the history of Russia and Ukraine dating back to dawn of Slavic history in 862, Vladimir Putin told Tucker Carlson that Russia and Ukraine almost agreed to a peace deal in Istanbul shortly after the full-scale war began in 2022 but that it was turned down by Ukraine at the behest of the West, specifically Boris Johnson, then British prime minister.

He suggested the West and Ukraine think about peace.

<p>In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with the Presidential Council for Science and Education via video link in Moscow on 8 February 2024</p>

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with the Presidential Council for Science and Education via video link in Moscow on 8 February 2024

“Wouldn’t it be better to come to an agreement with Russia? To agree, understanding the situation that is today, understanding that Russia will fight for its interests to the end, and, understanding this, actually return to common sense, start respecting our country, its interests and look for some solutions?”

And Russia? “We are ready for this dialogue.”

Mr Putin questioned why the United States needed to spend so much on arming Ukraine for a war he cast in some ways similar to a “civil war”.

“Does the United States need this? Why? It is thousands of kilometres away from its territory! Don’t you have anything else to do?” Mr Putin said. He said there were mercenaries from the United States, Poland and Georgia fighting for Ukraine.

Namita Singh9 February 2024 07:40
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In video: Putin repeats de-Nazification claim, meanders around Carlson questions

Putin repeats de-Nazification claim, meanders around Carlson questions
Namita Singh9 February 2024 07:20
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EU denies claim Tucker Carlson faces sanction over Putin interview

Peter Stano, a spokesperson for EU foreign policy boss Josep Borrell, told the media on Thursday that “It’s not up to us to try to pre-empt or speculate whether someone will be proposed by a member state or group of member states to be put on the sanctions list”.

Namita Singh9 February 2024 07:05
1707462000

Russian opposition leader on why Kremlin-controlled media loves Carlson

Gustaf Kilander9 February 2024 07:00
1707459817

Putin says if US stops giving Ukraine weapons the war will be over ‘in weeks’

More here:

Namita Singh9 February 2024 06:23
1707459757

Putin repeats ‘nonsense’ claim Boris Johnson scuppered efforts to end Ukraine invasion

During a highly anticipated sit-down interview with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, the Russian president said, via a translator, that a “huge document” had been prepared and approved by the head of the Ukranian delegation, before Mr Johnson had stepped in and “dissuaded” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“He put his signature and then he himself said, ‘we were ready to sign it and the war would have been over long ago’. However, Prime Minister Johnson came talk to us out of it, and we’ve missed that chance.”

Mike Bedigan report:

Namita Singh9 February 2024 06:22
1707458625

Tucker Carlson fawns over ‘beautiful’ Moscow as he jokes about ‘betraying’ US

He continued: “Why do I feel guilty, like I’m betraying my country for saying that, I’m not, I love America. This is a really nice city. And I don’t care. It’s true. So thank you.”

Namita Singh9 February 2024 06:03

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Joe Biden: A political hand grenade disguised as a report - BBC

Joe Biden gestures as he speaks at the White House on February 8Reuters

It was a political grenade disguised as a 345-page report.

The pyrotechnics were delivered on Thursday afternoon in the findings of special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Joe Biden's handling of classified documents after he left the vice-presidency in 2017.

The top-line conclusion was that the president would not face criminal charges for his actions, despite evidence that he had "wilfully retained and disclosed classified materials... when he was a private citizen".

The bottom line was much more damaging. Among the reasons Mr Hur listed for why he had decided not to prosecute the 81-year-old president was because he would likely be a sympathetic figure to a jury who would view him as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory".

Issues about Joe Biden's age and competency to serve another four years in office have been simmering for practically as long as Mr Biden has been in the White House, so this latest finding will provide fuel for Republican attacks and stoking concerns among some Democrats that the president is not up to the task.

It is a narrative that the Biden campaign has been desperately trying to confront, said Chris Borick, the director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

"The polling, over and over, we see data points that suggest it is his largest liability into this election that voters think he's simply too old to run," he says.

It's no surprise, then, that the Hur report prompted the White House to launch a furious counter-offensive that included the president holding an impromptu press conference, where he asserted that his memory was "just fine".

"I know what the hell I'm doing," he said.

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What's more, the special counsel presented specific evidence to back up this assertion. He wrote that during two days of interviews, Mr Biden had frequently been unable to recall details relevant to the investigation. More than that, Mr Hur recounted, he had struggled to recall which years he had been vice-president and when his oldest son, Beau Biden, had died of cancer.

It was this last claim that prompted an angry response from the president during his press conference at the White House on Thursday evening.

"How in the hell he dare raise that?" the president said.

The press conference itself could lend more fuel to the attacks on Mr Biden, however, as the president answered a question about the Gaza War by referring to Egyptian President Mohamed al-Sisi as the president of Mexico.

That stumble, not unlike other verbal miscues by Mr Biden in recent days, exposes the scope of the challenge facing his re-election effort. The best way for the president to address concerns about his age is to run a vigorous campaign and increase his public exposure. But every attempt comes with the risk of actions or evidence that feed existing concerns.

The White House has made other efforts to defuse the potency of the Hur report. Mr Biden's personal lawyer, Richard Sauber, tried to convince the special counsel to drop references to Mr Biden's mental acuity and mental lapses, writing in a letter that such language was not "accurate or appropriate".

Mr Biden also noted that he had given his two days of testimony to the special counsel shortly after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel - while he was "in the middle of handling an international crisis", he said.

Other Biden allies have pushed back on Mr Hur's impartiality, pointing out that he was appointed to a US attorney office by Donald Trump in 2017. It was Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland who selected Mr Hur as special counsel, however.

The Biden team has also been quick to pounce on the verbal missteps of his likely November opponent, 77-year-old Donald Trump. The former president recently confused his primary opponent Nikki Haley with former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and referred to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the leader of Turkey.

The best case for the White House may be that this particular grenade exploded in February, a full nine months from election day.

Larry Sabato, the director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, says concerns about Mr Biden's age are already essentially baked into the race, making the report damaging but not fatal.

The public "will look at it, and will raise one eyebrow, not both", he says. "Because in a way, people already knew this. Even if you casually watch five minutes of a speech he's giving, you already know this," he says.

When American voters finally head to the polls, the assertions contained in a special counsel report that ultimately declined to find Mr Biden criminally culpable will be of less concern than issues like the economy and abortion.

The worst-case scenario, on the other hand, is that this is just the start of a cavalcade of evidence undermining the president on one of his weakest attributes. And the arrow of time only points one way.

The president isn't getting any younger.

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https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiM2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS02ODI0ODA1OdIBN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS02ODI0ODA1OS5hbXA?oc=5

2024-02-09 06:20:13Z
CBMiM2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS02ODI0ODA1OdIBN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS02ODI0ODA1OS5hbXA