‘You can’t have a man in that situation’: Trump rages at Biden cover-up after leaked audio clip

Donald Trump has lashed out at what he referred to as a “cover-up” of Joe Biden’s psychological decline, following the discharge of audio recordings from Biden’s 2023 interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. The forty seventh president condemned the efforts by Biden’s aides and the media to obscure the president’s situation, saying, “They were really playing games.And you know, you can’t do that. Our country’s at stake.”“You see, even a thing like this there’s so many decisions for billions and billions but then you have even more important decisions,” he mentioned. “You have decisions for life.”The audio, launched by Axios on Friday, painted a troubling image of the then-president’s cognitive well being. In the recordings, Biden repeatedly struggles to recall key particulars, together with the 12 months Donald Trump was elected and when his personal son, Beau Biden, died. While transcripts of the six-hour interview had been accessible since early 2024, the newly launched clips underscore Hur’s controversial characterisation of Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”.Trump seized on the audio’s launch, utilizing it to bolster long-standing claims about Biden’s health to serve. “I know people that are 89, 90, 92, 93 years old that are literally perfect, but Joe was not one of them,” he mentioned. “And they did a lot of hiding.” He added that such concealment had harmful implications: “You have decisions for life, and you can’t have a man in that condition. And everybody was holding back, including the press, including the media.”During the interview, which was carried out over two days at the White House in October 2023, Biden’s legal professionals had been often heard interjecting to produce phrases or appropriate him. In one occasion, Biden appeared confused about why he stored a labeled memo on Afghanistan, vaguely suggesting it was “for posterity’s sake” earlier than his legal professional clarified he had no reminiscence of deliberately retaining the doc.The Biden administration had beforehand resisted releasing the audio, citing government privilege and issues it might deter cooperation with future investigations. But Republicans pushed for its launch, arguing it was important for public transparency. After Attorney General Merrick Garland solely authorised the discharge of the transcript, House Republicans voted to carry him in contempt of Congress.With Biden now out of workplace and Kamala Harris defeated in 2024, strain has mounted inside the Democratic Party to confront the legacy of Biden’s ultimate years in energy. A brand new guide, Original Sin, and feedback from Democrats like Pete Buttigieg and Chris Murphy have acknowledged indicators of cognitive decline throughout Biden’s presidency.