Attorney General Kamala Harris

Biden can't change his age but he and his team can better address concerns.

In the wake of the DOJ report on Joe Biden’s handling of documents after he served as vice-president, Republicans are trying to make Biden’s mental abilities the focus of the election. They’ve seized on the report’s portrayal of Joe Biden as forgetful. The special counsel, Republican Robert Hur, recounted several instances where Biden seemed confused, including failing to remember the year his son died.

There’s a lot going on here. My brother died a few years ago. I can’t remember the date or the year without looking it up. I just know he died on Easter morning. I think about him fairly often, but I don’t harp on the anniversary of his death. I don’t know why Joe Biden would immediately remember the year of his son’s death. I imagine he dwells more on Beau’s life than on his death.

Biden was questioned about relatively mundane events that happened six or seven years ago. Remembering details from that long ago is difficult for most people, regardless of age and “I don’t remember” is a common refrain in depositions. Have you ever watched legal documentaries with people being questioned about their lives? How often do they say “I can’t recall?” For that matter, did you watch any of the Trump fraud trial? There’s a whole article by the BBC titled, “Ivanka Trump: Why ‘I don’t recall’ is a common legal strategy.” Biden is being held to a different standard.

Biden’s age is a legitimate concern for a number of reasons, but there’s no evidence that he’s cognitively impaired. He’s meeting with a lot of people and nobody has claimed that he’s slipping. Even Republicans who have met with Biden say that he’s mentally sharp.

In contrast, numerous Republicans who worked closely with Donald Trump have said that he’s unfit to serve. And when he says crazy stuff like telling Putin it’s okay to attack our allies, Republicans like Thom Tillis give him cover by saying he didn’t mean what he said. These are the same people who told us Trump would hand over power peacefully. Every time a reporter or article mentions Biden’s mental acuity, it should mention Trump’s foibles and threats, too.

The questions about Biden’s cognitive abilities come from the megaphones of the right, not from doctors or advisors. Conservatives have built an entire infrastructure to influence the news cycle and drive a narrative. They have captive audiences in large swaths of rural America that barely hear any of other version of the news. If the mainstream media ignores their latest obsession, Fox News, talk radio, and various websites, like The Federalist, scream in unison about liberal media bias and the traditional media responds with failed attempts to mollify them.

While media outlets are partially to blame for the bad headlines and shoddy reporting of bothsidesism, Democrats have failed to build an adequate response to the conservative media ecosystem. They’re pushing back with communications teams chastising reporters and editors or liberal pundits bemoaning weak reporting disguised as balanced reporting. MSNBC, Media Matters, Courier Newsroom and outlets like The Atlantic, The New Republic, and The Nation lack the reach or influence of the pervasive conservative media network.

So when a story like Hur’s report breaks, conservatives are driving the narrative that’s then mimicked by the mainstream press. Liberals lack the infrastructure to pushback hard or control the story, which should have been Biden’s exoneration, and find themselves on the defense more often than not. Liberal billionaires need to continue to invest in communication outlets and Democrats need to beef up their press operations to push back harder and get in front of stories.

But Democrats have another problem, too. They appoint people like Merrick Garland. In trying to prove that they’re fair, they put people in positions of power who don’t necessarily have the best interest of Democrats in mind. Remember, Trump’s attorneys general were hardcore partisans Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions who believed that protecting Trump was part of the job. Garland, in contrast, is barely a Democrat and certainly not a partisan.

Garland may have responsibility to enforce the law, but he’s also got at least a modicum of responsibility to protect his boss from political gamesmanship. He should not have allowed Hur’s report to be released without striking the speculation about Biden’s memory. In fact, he should never have appointed Hur at all. Republicans certainly wouldn’t have allowed a Democrat to investigate one of their own.

While Democrats might not be able to fix the deficiencies in their communication infrastructure quickly, they can make other adjustments. The can begin to address Biden’s age issue and they can make sure they have an attorney general who will vigorously protect our democracy heading into the most important election in history.

As I said, Biden’s age is a legitimate issue, but there’s a stark difference between age and competency and I think most Americans know that. There’s no evidence that he’s suffering from mental deficiencies today, but there are questions about whether he can serve out his term. Part of his problem is that a lot of voters lack confidence in Kamala Harris to succeed him. Unceremoniously dumping her, though, would be difficult and divisive.

Instead, Biden needs to dump Garland and appoint Harris as attorney general. She’s more than qualified, having served as California’s AG. She showed off her prosecutorial chops as a Senator questioning Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing and Bill Barr during the Russian interference investigation. Harris would forcefully protect our country and the Constitution while protecting Biden from partisan political shenanigans like we saw last week.

Biden, in turn, would be free to choose a vice-president that more people could see as president. His pick would instill more confidence in the ticket. He could choose Gretchen Whitmer or Gavin Newsom, or, hell, Roy Cooper as a running mate with broad appeal and strong executive experience. A new running mate would make the ticket look fresh, something the country wants.

As for Harris, her political prospects would remain in tact. While vice-president is a position, attorney general is a job. She would have four years to prove that she’s up to the task of serving as president and put to rest doubts about her abilities. She would certainly begin the 2028 presidential contest as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination regardless of who is president. U.S. Senator, vice-president, and attorney general is a hell of a political resume.

Democrats need to run the 2024 campaign on their turf. They might not be able to change Biden’s age but they can put to rest questions about his mental acuity. Biden needs to be seen in more unscripted engagements with reporters and the press. Democrats should also force the media to pay as much attention to Trump’s mental state as they do Biden’s. And while they can’t make Biden any younger, they can give voters assurances that if something happens to him that forces him to leave office, his successor will have the confidence of a majority of Americans. Finally, they can better protect our elections from a movement determined to undermine them by appointing an aggressive attorney general to safeguard our democracy.