Will special counsel's comments on Biden's age change his campaign? 'Nothing new,' aide insists

Special counsel Robert Hur's report recommending against charging President Joe Biden because he could present to jurors as an «elderly man with a poor memory» united many Democrats in anger at Hur's characterization and sparked division in the party over how Biden's reelection campaign should respond to the focus on an issue that polls show concerns large swathes of the public.

Hur's report, released after a lengthy investigation into Biden's handling of classified information while out of office, painted a scathing and disputed portrait of the president's «diminished faculties,» saying he couldn't remember what years he served as vice president or when his son Beau died.

Biden has forcefully contested those accounts — «How in the hell dare he raise that?» he said after the report's release, referring to the anecdote about his son — but multiple Democrats who spoke with ABC News said they saw danger lurking in an election cycle in which the president's age and fitness for office are already notable sore spots for him in polling.

«I think it does seem a bit unfair. But at the end of the day, it is damaging because it confirms those feelings that voters already have,» said one Democratic strategist familiar with the Biden campaign's strategy, who asked not to be quoted by name because of professional relationships.

A Biden campaign official, who asked to speak without being named, sought to swat away concerns about his age.

«Underestimate the president at your own risk,» this person said.

«Republican attacks on the president and his age are nothing new. They've been lobbed at him since he first ran and first won in 2019,» the official added. «What we've done is prove that his experience in Washington is an asset,» they said,