The Dems Who Know: Axelrod and Begala Detail How Bad Hur Report and Biden's Response Was

We all saw what an explosion the report of Special Counsel Robert Hur caused after it dropped on Thursday.

Then came the disaster of Joe Biden's response to it, where he angrily shouted at reporters and denied things that were spelled out in the report.

Not to mention the bad White House Counsel's Office response where they disputed things in report and what it said about the interview of Joe Biden. But the spokesperson also would not agree to release the interview so everyone could see the truth.

Biden Lawyers Demand Revisions to Hur Report, Claim Descriptions of His 'Limited Recall' Are Inflammatory

Biden Reacts to the Hur Report and It's a Horror Show of Confusion, With a Damning Admission

David Axelrod, the Democratic operative who has criticized Biden staying in and has suggested he not run again, weighed in. He said that he understood how the Biden team felt they had to respond to the report, but he pointed out Biden's response just "reinforced the meme" about Biden's age and incompetence.

However, he added, "Whether the response was adequate, or whether it creates more problems, I think is another question."
"He did contradict elements of the special counsel’s report. And that undoubtedly will go on," he said, adding, "And then he was quite angry, not just at the release, or the characterizations of the special counsel, but of what some of the reporters were asking him."
Axelrod stressed that the age and mental fitness issue is "a problem for the president" and warned that Biden seems to be "reinforcing" people’s impression of him as too old.
"Anderson, the most damaging things that can happen in politics – there are things that reinforce a meme that’s out there that is hurting you. And the central meme that is hurting the president is this issue of age. It’s a big barrier."

It just made everything worse. "You can't unring the bell," he said, and it "goes to the core of what is plaguing Biden politically now, which is a widespread fear that he’s not up to it."

Exactly. You're trying to create/improve the image of your candidate and now Biden just fully implanted it in a national address for all the people who don't see what we see every day with him: Biden is an angry, yelling confused old man, who can't remember anything. Not a good look for the alleged leader of the free world.

Paul Begala put it even more bluntly.

CNN's Paul Begala on Joe Biden's press conference performance:

"I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every 2 hours & wet the bed. This is terrible for Democrats..."

Begala then takes a shot at Biden for not knowing when he was vice president.pic.twitter.com/ttKJfVuSgo
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 9, 2024

“Look, I’m a Biden supporter. And I slept like a baby last night," Begala said. "I woke up every two hours crying and wet the bed."

"This is terrible for Democrats," he added. "And anybody with a functioning brain knows that."

But instead of going out and saying "I really am sharp," Begala explained, you should go out and "attack the other guy as awful." He took a shot at Biden saying Biden laid out the strategy in 2012 [as to how to respond] "I remember he was vice president" -- a reference to Biden not remembering when he was vice president in the Hur report.

"Don't compare us to the almighty, compare us to the alternative," Begala said quoting Biden, saying you should point to the other guy as a "threat." He said they needed to be on the attack 24/7.

However, they've already been trying that strategy and it hasn't worked because people can still see Biden every day. That's their only strategy because they really don't have anything else. This also gives an inside look into the thought patterns of the Democratic operatives: who cares about how bad our guy is, we'll just attack the other guy.

But Begala is honest about how bad Biden's response was for Democrats, and how much he, Begala, "wet the bed." We see a lot of Democrats denying this or liberal media trying to spin this or paint Robert Hur as the bad guy. The American people aren't going to see it that way.

This may have effectively ended Biden, as the calls to swap him out are going to increase. It's hard to imagine how the Democrats get around this in the clear light of day because Biden is only going to get worse, he's not going to get younger or more coherent.