Biden caught on hot mic using explicative to insult journalist

by mcardinal

Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News

 

Joe Biden’s claim to being the antithesis of former President Donald Trump in terms of rhetoric and dealing with the media took another hit Monday when a live microphone captured the president using a curse word to insult Fox News reporter Peter Doocy.

As first reported by Fox News, the trouble for Biden started after he completed prepared remarks about his meeting with the White House Competition Council, the group Biden has assembled to ensure fair and active competition across U.S. industries.

When President Biden wrapped up his prepared speech and reporters were being ushered out by White House staff, Doocy was one of several reporters who began shouting questions, a common practice among media desperate to press presidents for comment on various issues.

Doocy asked, “Will you take questions on inflation then?  Do you think inflation is a political liability ahead of the midterms?”

The president responded sarcastically, “No, it’s a great asset.  More inflation.”  Then added, “What a stupid son of a b—-.”

The exchange was recorded on the White House’s official transcript of the remarks.

For his part, Doocy seemed unaffected. He appeared later in the day on Fox News Channel’s “The Five” and laughed off the barb. “Yeah, nobody has fact-checked him yet and said it’s not true,” Doocy said of the President’s insult.

Although Biden and Doocy have often clashed, it seems the president’s anger was originally sparked by a reporter who was heard to ask, “Mr. President, can you give us a brief update on your call with European leaders on what’s happening in Ukraine today?”

Biden responded, “The only reason I don’t like doing this is you never report on why I’ve called a meeting.  And this is really important. I had a very, very, very good meeting. Total unanimity with all the European leaders.  We’ll talk about it later.”

This exchange preceded Doocy’s question by a few moments.

Although he ran on assurances of being kinder to the press than his predecessor, and once promised to fire “on the spot” any member of staff who treated anyone without “decency and dignity,” Biden has repeatedly run afoul of journalists of all political persuasions.

He spent the first several months of his presidency attempting to bar all media from seeing border detention facilities and repeatedly walked away from podiums rather than answer questions when it became clear the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan had devolved into a calamity.

The president’s staff has more than once ushered reporters out of rooms rather than allow dialogue. On one occasion, the White House Press Association filed a complaint against Press Secretary Jen Psaki for having reporters led out of a room rather than allow them to ask the president questions.

Last week, Biden drew criticism from conservatives when he called a question from Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich “stupid.”

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