Allies of President Joe Biden are on the defensive, trying to downplay the concerns over the mental health of the 81-year-old commander-in-chief, following the release of the special counsel report last week. While it called for no prosecution against Biden for his mishandling of classified documents from the Obama administration, it put the spotlight on Biden's age and mental acuity.

Special counsel Robert Hur described Biden as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," and it comes as a majority of voters have expressed concerns about the sitting president's age. It was just last week Biden seemed to forget who were the current leaders of France and Germany – confusing François Mitterrand, the former French president who died in 1996, for French President Emmanuel Macron; and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, for Olaf Scholz.

However, these gaffes could also serve as a reminder that former President Donald Trump has increasingly made similar questionable statements. In recent weeks, Trump mixed up his main GOP political rival Nikki Haley with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and said on multiple occasions that he is running against Barack Obama.

Moreover, Trump told attendees at a rally that the United States could be on the brink of World War II – a conflict that has been over for nearly 80 years. Even as the Biden campaign is on the defensive, it hasn't shied away from going on the attack against Trump's misstatements.

"Every single time Donald Trump opens his mouth, he's confused, deranged, lying, or worse," T.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, said in a statement released by Biden's reelection campaign to Reuters.

Opening for Nikki Haley

It could be increasingly difficult for the Trump campaign to directly target Biden's mental health without raising similar flags about the former president – especially as he continues to show the same level of confusion. However, this continues to present an opening for former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Haley, who remains Trump's only rival for the GOP nomination, has also tried to cast both the sitting and former presidents as mentally unfit. During a rally in Newberry, South Carolina, Haley's team reportedly handed out a mental competency test aimed at whether Biden or Trump can pass it. It stated, "Can you pass a mental competency test? Can Joe Biden? Can Donald Trump?"

Donald Trump's Achilles Heel

While the Trump campaign will likely use every gaffe Biden makes as proof he isn't the right guy to lead the country, it could potentially backfire. If Joe Biden were to suddenly bow out of the race, then Donald Trump would become the "elderly man with a poor memory," yet likely would not be described as so "well-meaning."

"Democrats may have an advantage because Biden's age clearly hasn't impacted his policymaking, and one could argue Trump's mental state underscores the kind of policy instability we saw during his presidency," Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist and director of the public policy program at Hunter College, told The Hill last month.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.