MSNBC's Joe Scarborough touted President Joe Biden's intellect and criticized detractors who couldn't "handle the truth."
Scarborough praised Biden during the network's coverage of Super Tuesday.
“I’ve said it for years now, he’s cogent,” Scarborough said. “But I undersold him when I said he was cogent. He’s far beyond cogent."
"In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been — intellectually, analytically — because he’s been around for fifty years," he added.
The MSNBC host also noted Biden has historically had a short temper, though claimed he had improved in his age.
"Sometimes that Irishman would get in front of the reasoning. Sometimes he would say things he didn’t want to say," Scarborough said before adding, "Eff you if you can't handle the truth."
"This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever," Scarborough said. "Not a close second, and I’ve known him for years, the Brzezinskis have known him for 50 years.”
"If it weren't the truth, I wouldn't say it," he added.
Scarborough's praise of Biden's intellect follows years of the president's mental competency being called into question.
In early February, The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report announcing they would not seek criminal charges against the president after finding evidence that Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" after his tenure as vice president. The report, released by special counsel Robert K. Hur, cited Biden was not in a "mental state of willfulness" as their reasoning to not bring charges against him.
Hur's report also cited previous interviews where the then-former vice president "appeared to have significant limitations" in his mental competency.
"He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended ('if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?'), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began ('in 2009, am I still Vice President?')," Hur's report read. "He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he 'had a real difference' of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama."
“We conclude that the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” the report added, also stating Biden viewed himself as a “historic figure” as his reasoning to retain classified documents.