Clinton adviser Begala on Hur report: ‘This is terrible for Democrats’

Democratic strategist and former Clinton advisor Paul Begala issued a warning to Democrats after the release of a special counsel report that questioned President Joe Biden's memory.

"Look, I'm a Biden supporter. And I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every two hours and wet the bed. This is terrible for Democrats. And anybody with a functioning brain knows that," said Begala, who was a chief strategist to the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and later served as an adviser to President Bill Clinton in the White House, in an appearance Friday on CNN.

Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, which was released Thursday, found that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified information but that criminal charges weren't warranted.

The report also said Biden had a “poor” memory, which prompted a fiery response from Biden during a Thursday night press conference. The president angrily questioned why the special counsel would write in his report that he couldn’t recall when his son Beau died.

“I don’t need anyone, anyone, to remind me when he passed away,” Biden said of the special counsel. “How the hell dare he raise that.”

Begala criticized the president’s response, arguing that an offensive strategy would have been more effective than going on the defense.

“What you do is attack. Change the subject. You can't unring the bell,” Begala said. “I think Biden made it worse, no question about it.”

Ahead of the November election, Begala said, the president needs to switch gears.

“I want to see more Joe Biden, and the gaffes are built in. But instead of simply saying, ‘I’m OK’, he just simply, he needs to be on the attack 24/7 for the next 269 days,” Begala said.