Jake Tapper Skeptical of Ex-Biden Staffer’s Explanation for His ‘Poor Memory’: ‘To Not Know What Year You’re Vice President?’
CNN’s Jake Tapper wasn’t really buying ex-Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield’s defense of her former boss from a report labeling him an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
In a report released Thursday, the Department of Justice concluded that Biden “willfully retained” classified materials after he left his post as vice president in 2017. However, special counsel Robert Hur declined to charge Biden with any crime. The most damning portions of the report took aim at the president’s memory, saying it “appeared to have significant limitations.”
The report also stated that in interviews with investigators, Biden “did not remember what year he was vice president.”
Kicking off the interview, Tapper was incredulous when Bedingfield spoke of how easy it is to forget things that happened “six, seven, eight years ago— ”
“To not know what year you’re vice president?” he said.
They then delved deeper into what this could mean for the 2024 election.
“Let’s talk about that a little bit more,” Tapper said, “because this is a particularly bad week for this report and its comments about President Biden’s faculties and memory to come up. Because twice this week, he has acted as if he in 2021 spoke to European leaders who have been dead for years. Once, he confused Francois Mitterand, who died in 1996 with Emmanuel Macron, who is still very much alive. And another time, he was referring to Angela Merkel, who recently, the chancellor of Germany, and referred to her as Helmut Kohl, who I think died in 2017. So, this memory issue is already out there.”
Bedingfield stated, “I want to know how many voters in Michigan, or Wisconsin do you think know the difference between Kohl and—
“No, no but they know— ” Tapper interrupted.
“You asked, you asked,” Bedingfield admonished Tapper, who relented with an “Ok, ok.”
“Or will cast their vote for president based on whether someone is naming Emmanuel Macron or Francois Mitterand, whose name they probably don’t know.
“But It is not about that,” Tapper continued. “It’s about faculty and memory, and whether somebody they perceive is competent. You saw the poll on NBC News that Donald Trump has something like, 48% perceived him to be competent, and like 32% perceived President Biden. Now, I’m not saying that’s accurate, but that’s the perception.”
Bedingfield went on:
Right, and so they’re going to look at, how is he doing the job? They’re going to look at what has he gotten done? They’re going to listen to what he has to say as he’s traveling, he’s campaigning over the next nine months. They’re going to hear Donald Trump… saying, Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi, inverting their names. They will hear him saying all sorts of things that have, shall we say, a casual relationship with the truth. I mean this is a campaign where you’re going to have Donald Trump out spewing invective every day and talking about retribution. People will make a decision about which person will be the best person for them, and is going to do to make their lives better, not who can name Francois Mitterand and Emmanuel Macron.
Tapper then played with the theme of the interview when he concluded, “Ok, merci beaucoup.”
Watch the clip above via CNN.
