A leaked audio from a 2023 interview with former President Joe Biden has raised questions about transparency and leadership within the presidency of Biden and his administration.
Published by Axios on May 16, 2025, the recordings expose Biden struggling to recall key personal and political milestones, raising questions about whether presidential interviews revealing incompetence should remain confidential.
The interview took place on October 8 and 9, 2023, at the White House, as part of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as a U.S. senator and vice president under Barack Obama.
The interview was conducted by Robert Hur and Marc Krickbaum over two days, lasting six hours. They examined how classified materials ended up at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.
Axios obtained and released the audio, which had been kept confidential by the Biden administration.
In May 2024, Biden used executive privilege to prevent the release of recordings, labeling them as “law enforcement materials.”
The White House argued that Republicans sought to distort the audio for political purposes.
However, the Trump administration, after taking office, signaled plans to declassify and release the full interview, with Axios securing excerpts first.
The audio shows Biden having major memory problems:
- Biden can’t remember the year his son Beau died: Biden asked, “Was it 2015 he had died?” and needed confirmation from his lawyers. Beau Biden passed away from brain cancer in May 2015.
- When he left office as vice president: Biden could not recall that his vice presidency ended in January 2017.
- The year Donald Trump was elected: He struggled to pinpoint Trump’s 2016 election.
- Details about classified documents: When asked about a handwritten memo on Afghanistan, Biden said, “I don’t remember telling [ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer] I ‘just found all the classified stuff downstairs.’” He later added, “I don’t know that I knew. But when pressed further, I guess I wanted to hang onto it just for posterity’s sake.”
Listen to the audio below at the end of this article.
Another striking moment came when Biden responded to a question about where he stored papers after leaving the vice presidency: “Well, um, I, I, I, I, I, I don’t know.” The audio captures long pauses, a ticking clock, and Biden’s soft, halting voice, occasionally slurring.
Despite these struggles, Biden remained engaged, cracking jokes about Jay Leno and the Gutenberg printing press.
Axios noted he sounded like a “nostalgic, grandfatherly storyteller” rather than a potential defendant.
Who Kept the Interview Confidential?
The Biden administration, including White House counsel Ed Siskel and deputy Rachel Cotton, worked to keep the audio under wraps.
After the February 2024 release of Hur’s report, which described Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the administration released a 258-page transcript but blocked the audio, citing executive privilege.
White House aides, including then-spokesperson Ian Sams, denied claims of significant memory lapses, insisting Biden was “sharp” and that Hur’s characterization was politically motivated.
Why It Matters Now
The leak, surfacing, just recently, in May 2025, reignites concerns about Biden’s mental acuity during his presidency, especially as he was 80 years old at the time of the interview.
With the 2024 election loss to Donald Trump, the audio fuels speculation about whether Biden’s cognitive struggles were concealed by his team and the media.
A forthcoming book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, promises further details, amplifying public interest.
The timing is significant: the interview’s first session occurred on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas attacked Israel, a major international crisis.
Biden’s slow, forgetful demeanor that day contrasts with a more vigorous performance on October 9, raising questions about his capacity to lead during critical moments.
The audio also validates Hur’s decision not to recommend charges, as he believed a jury would view Biden sympathetically due to his memory issues.
The broader question—should presidential interviews revealing incompetence stay confidential?—is now a public debate.
Critics argue transparency is essential for accountability, especially when competence is in question. Supporters of confidentiality, however, warn that selective leaks can be weaponized for political gain, distorting context.
Additional Information
- Biden Raised His Son’s Death: Contrary to Biden’s claim that Hur inappropriately brought up Beau’s death, the transcript shows Biden himself introduced the topic, a point the Department of Justice defended.
- Congressional Contempt: In June 2024, Attorney General Merrick Garland was found in contempt of Congress for enforcing Biden’s executive privilege to withhold the audio, highlighting the political battle over its release.
A Call for Transparency?
The leaked Biden-Hur interview, conducted at the White House in October 2023, exposes vulnerabilities, maybe even incompetences that were shielded from the public for over a year.
With Biden’s memory lapses on personal milestones like his son’s death and professional details like his vice presidency, the audio challenges the narrative of a fully capable leader.
As the Trump administration prepares to release the full recording, the debate intensifies: should presidential interviews exposing incompetence remain confidential, or does the public deserve unfiltered access to assess their leaders?
This leak, facilitated by Axios and tied to the Trump administration’s declassification efforts, ensures that question will linger.
Listen to the audio below
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