WH admits hasty presser that fueled concerns over Biden’s mental acuity was his idea

President Biden is the one who came up with the idea to hastily convene his controversial press conference last week that further fueled concerns about his mental acuity, the White House admitted Tuesday.

Biden’s Thursday presser was intended to assuage fears about the 81-year-old’s cognitive abilities in the wake of the bombshell special counsel report that suggested he had “diminished faculties.” But critics seized on a lapse he suffered during it.

“It was the president’s idea,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged to reporters Tuesday when asked why Biden appeared before the press at the time, only to publicly falter once again.

“He believes he did the right thing,” she added of the appearance. “It was important, we believe, for the American people to hear directly from the president in a forceful way.”

At Thursday”s press conference, Biden first commended special counsel Robert Hur of the Department of Justice for opting not to charge him over alleged classified document mishandling — then blasted him for disparaging his memory in that same report.

Later at that press conference, during a riff on the war in Israel, Biden slipped up and called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi the president of Mexico, further amplifying concerns about his mental sharpness among his detractors.

In his report, Hur suggested that a jury would not be inclined to convict Biden over mishandled documents because he is a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” and “diminished faculties.”

Hur also pointed to precedent and Biden’s cooperation, which he juxtaposed against former President Donald Trump, who was charged with hoarding a trove of classified documents.

Throughout his report, Hur recounted several moments of lapses that Biden had during their roughly five-hour interview last fall, including that the president “did not remember when he was vice president” and could not recall the precise date when his oldest son Beau died of brain cancer.

“How the hell dare he!” an enraged Biden fumed at the presser about Hur’s question involving Beau. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, was it any of their damn business.”

Biden’s lawyer, Bob Bauer, who was present for the interview with Hur, has since disputed Hur’s characterizations.

But Jean-Pierre was noncommittal about releasing a transcript to prove the president’s case.

“They’re discussing it. They’re looking at it. There’s a process that’s involved,” she said Tuesday. “The White House counsel has obviously taken these questions from all of you, and so they’re looking into it. I just don’t have anything further to say about that.”

House Republicans have sought those documents and are reportedly in talks with Hur to testify about his findings.