Fact Check: Was Joe Biden Ruled Mentally Unfit to Stand Trial?

Special counsel Robert Hur's report on President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents has raised fresh questions about the president's reelection campaign.

The report, which declined to bring charges against Biden, characterized him as an "elderly man" with a "poor memory" who couldn't remember when his son died or when he was vice president. Biden and the White House have strongly refuted these claims.

Biden now faces increased scrutiny from his political opponents about his age and mental fitness. GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested that Biden was not "mentally fit to stand trial," let alone to serve as president.

The Claim

A Facebook post by Greene on February 8 said: "If Joe Biden is not mentally fit to stand trial, then he certainly isn't mentally fit to be President of the United States.

"It's time to do something about it," the Georgia Republican said.

Greene's post included a screen grab of a post from X (formerly Twitter) by Washington Post journalist Matt Viser that referred to Hur's report on Biden's retention of classified documents from when he was vice president and a senator.

"The report said, a jury would find Biden 'a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Viser wrote. "It'd be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him -- by then a former president well into his eighties -- of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

The Facts

Greene's reading here is inaccurate.

Hur's report assessed whether Biden's storage of classified documents amounted to a prosecutable offense, as well as the likelihood of a conviction. His assessment included judgments about Biden's ability to recall events in his life, where he stored the documents and whom he shared sensitive information with.

Hur said any trial would take years to bring to court and, in that hypothetical situation, Biden "would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

He added: "It would be difficult to convince a jury they should convict him—by then a former president who will be at least well into his eighties—of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

The report said that Biden could not remember when he was vice president, when that term ended, when it began and "even within several years when his son Beau died."

This drew a furious reaction from the president, who addressed the nation hours after the report's release.

"I know what the hell I'm doing," Biden said at the White House on February 8. "I've been president. I put this country back on its feet. I don't need his recommendation."

Referring to Hur's remarks about recalling his son's death, he said: "How in the hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn't any of their damn business."

While Hur's judgments in the report may have been embarrassing, they do not state, as Greene suggests, that Biden would be mentally unfit to stand trial either now or in the future.

Hur suggested a trial would happen when Biden would be "at least well into his eighties" and would require a "mental state of willfulness." This is distinct from mental competency to stand trial, which is assessed by psychiatric evaluation.

Hur cannot predict whether Biden would lack the mental capacity at that point to stand trial, as Greene suggests, nor does he make the claim that this is the case now. His opinion is that in his 80s the pressures of such a serious trial would be significantly more demanding for Biden.

Hur mentioned other mitigating factors that could affect a jury conviction, including that "relatively few people are prosecuted" in their 80s and that, crucially, while Biden "must be accountable for his actions, he is, after all, the President of the United States."

He added: "Based on our direct observations of him, Mr. Biden is someone for whom many jurors will want to search for reasonable doubt."

Although Republicans may argue Hur's report shows Biden is not competent to remain president, Greene's allegation that he does not have the mental faculties to even stand trial is not supported by Hur's observations or other evidence.

Newsweek contacted media representatives for Greene and the White House via email for comment.

The Ruling

False.

Hur's report does not state that Biden is mentally unfit to stand trial.

The report states that if Biden were charged over his handling of classified documents, it could take years for a court trial to take place. Hur said at that point Biden would be well into his 80s and would find such a trial significantly demanding.

Hur said that Biden could not remember significant dates when interviewed, such as when his son died, and that a jury would likely view him as "a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." However, Hur did not make any assessments about Biden's ability to stand trial, and there is no evidence that questions this.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team