Sen. Coons argues in heated interview that Biden’s memory gaffes aren't 'what matters' in 2024 race

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a co-chair of President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, grew animated on Sunday as he defended Biden after special counsel Robert Hur's new report detailing what Hur called Biden's significant lapses in memory.

«As you well know, more gaffes are a part of what all of us in public life do,» Coons said in an interview with ABC News' «This Week» co-anchor Jonathan Karl. Coons pointed to verbal slips made by House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump.

«Here is what matters, not the occasional small gaffes. He [Biden] had a 12-minute press conference where he was focused, engaged, purposeful, and all you're focused on is that one minute at the end,» Coons continued, referring to when Biden misidentified the president of Egypt on Thursday. «That's not what distinguishes him from his opponents.»

«That's not exactly fair,» Karl pushed back. «And I will concede there are many moments, and we have, lord knows, talked about them where Donald Trump seems wildly confused about a lot of things, and we've focused on all of that.»

Karl pointed to other notable recent moments in which Biden mistakenly referenced meeting with a French president who has been dead for nearly two decades and didn't seem to immediately remember the name of Hamas, the terrorist group that launched deadly attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.

Karl also pointed to recent polling that found the American people are concerned about Biden's age, including a new ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday that shows 86% of Americans think Biden is too old to serve another term.

Coons dismissed the public polling.

«If press coverage focuses relentlessly on things that don't represent Joe Biden's real body of work, you can push towards