In remarks to reporters Friday, Joe Biden mocked the idea that he struggled cognitively and physically while in office and boasted he could “beat the hell” out of those making the claim.
Biden had just delivered a brief speech at a war memorial near his Wilmington, Del., home on the 10th anniversary of the passing of his son Beau from brain cancer.
During a Q&A with reporters following his speech—his first public remarks since leaving the White House—Biden was asked about recent discussions about “his mental and physical capabilities” while in office.
“You can see that I‘m mentally incompetent and I can‘t walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” he blustered, apparently in reference to CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, the co-authors of the recently released “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
“Do you want to reply to any of those reports, and also to the fact that there are some Democrats who are now questioning whether you should have run for reelection in the first place?” the reporter followed up, prompting Biden to reply: “Why didn‘t they run against me then?” He then leaned in close to the female reporter and whispered: “Because I‘d have beaten them.”
When asked if he had any regrets about dropping out of the race, Biden said he did not and that “we‘re in a really difficult moment, not only in American history and world history.”
As for his cancer prognosis, Biden said he was already undergoing treatment and that his doctors are “very optimistic” about his chances.
“It‘s all a matter of taking a pill, one particular pill,” he said. “And for the next six weeks, and then another one. And the expectation is we‘re going to be able to beat this. There‘s no it‘s not in any organ. My bones are strong. It hasn‘t penetrated. So I‘m feeling good.”
He also bragged about his record as president, saying he was “very proud” of his accomplishments and he’d put his “record as president against any president at all.” Biden claimed that presidential historians had ranked him “pretty good” on their list of presidents, while “the guy I ran against” came in last.
In his his first public speech since leaving White House, Biden fearmongered about President Donald Trump’s agenda, claiming, without evidence, the president has “taken a hatchet” to Social Security.
Trump has repeatedly vowed that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will not be touched “except to eliminate fraud.” Those programs, he has said, will actually be strengthened, “but if illegal migrants are in the system, they’re getting kicked out.”
“My friends, Memorial Day is about something profound,” Biden declared during the speech. “Our politics have become so divided and bitter. All the years I have been doing this, I never thought we would get to this point, but we are.” He added: “Our troops do not wear a uniform that says I‘m a Democrat or a Republican. It says, I am an American!”
Biden also took the opportunity to acknowledge his deceased son Beau, who died 10 years ago from brain cancer after serving in the Iraq War.
“I know for many of you, Memorial Day is deeply personal. For the Bidens, this day is the 10th anniversary of the loss of my son Beau, who served in Iraq,” he said. “It is a hard day.”
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