On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden might “embellish” stories to make them more dramatic, “But he’s not mendacious. He’s not irresponsible.”
Brooks began by saying that Biden’s statements shouldn’t be compared to President Trump’s in any way.
Brooks added, “Biden may be aging, and maybe that’s an issue. I think it’s a legitimate issue for voters to think about. But he’s not mendacious. He’s not irresponsible. He may embellish a story to improve its dramatic effect. And he may be forgetting things. Our memories are just much more fallible than we think. Every memory expert will tell you that. And when you’re on the campaign trail doing thousands of events, traveling everywhere, things get jostled in your mind. So, it could be just the normal jostling of [the] campaign.”
He continued, “And for some reason, we’ve gotten into a pattern where a Biden gaffe is the story. So, he’ll do eight good things in the campaign, tells one mistake, and that’s the story. Because that’s the story we associate with Joe Biden right now. But it’s something for voters to monitor. I don’t think embellishing that kind of story is like something that’s necessarily a sign that he’s over the hill.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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