President Joe Biden hit a bump Sunday night on his long road to fight back against a special counselās report that questioned his mental acuity.
To be precise, Biden appeared to bump his head on the frame of Marine One as he and first lady Jill Biden exited the presidential helicopter after returning to the White House from Delaware, Fox News reported.
On Thursday, special counsel Robert Hurās report on the presidentās handling of classified documents said he would appear to a jury as āa sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memoryā who was unable to accurately recall significant dates in his life.
The report cited that as a reason not to bring charges against Biden.
The 81-year-old president held a news conference Thursday night to push back against doubts about his cognitive abilities ā during which he called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi the president of Mexico.
Many Democratsexpressed concern about Hurās report.
The report āclears him legally and kneecaps him politically,ā said Paul Begala, a former adviser to former President Bill Clinton, according to NPR.
āItās certainly true that anything that feeds the master negative narrative is especially harmful,ā Begala said.
āFor Clinton, it was cheating, for Bush, it was ādumb,ā Obama āelitist,ā which is why when Obama said 57 states, it didnāt hurt him. If it was Bush, it would have.ā
āObviously with Biden, itās āold.ā So, this really really hurts him,ā he said.
āThis is terrible for Democrats. And anybody with a functioning brain knows that,ā Begala said in a separate interview on CNN.
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser in the Obama White House, said the report ājust amplified Bidenās greatest challenge,ā according to NPR.
The challenge was highlighted by a new ABC News/Ipsos poll that found 86 percent of respondents believe the president is too old to serve a second term. The poll of 528 U.S. adults has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
Republicans have highlighted the Hur reportās findings about Biden.
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said it wasnāt surprising.
āThe American people have seen for years that he is a man with a failing memory. What this report indicates though is that you have a blatant double standard: If Joe Biden is not going to face criminal charges, then Donald Trump shouldnāt be facing criminal charges either,ā he said on āFox News Sunday.ā
Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley questioned the cognitive abilities of both Biden and the GOP front-runner, former President Donald Trump who is 77.
āWe have to face the reality of the fact that when you get to those ages, you get diminished,ā Haley said Sunday on CBS Newsā āFace the Nation.ā
āThese are people making decisions on our national security,ā she said. āThese are people making decisions on the future of our economy. We need to know theyāre at the top of their game.ā
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.