“What a dirty asshole”… Microphone on, Joe Biden insults a Fox News journalist

New blunder or assumed skid? Joe Biden insulted a Fox News reporter on Monday, calling him an “asshole”, in the hubbub of an end to a roundtable at the White House.

As the competition meeting was winding down, a few reporters shouted out unrelated questions as they left. A first asked the American president if he intended to send 8,500 soldiers to Eastern Europe in the face of the Russian threat. And then Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who regularly clashes with Joe Biden’s administration, asked him about the possibility of inflation being a political handicap in the midterms.

Joe Biden responded with a mumble: “That’s a great asset. More inflation. “And to let go, perhaps thinking of having his microphone off: “What a stupid son of a bitch” (“What a dirty asshole”).

Hot mic: Joe Biden, at the end of a competition meeting, gets annoyed at a question from Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, not realizing the mic is still on:
“Encore l’inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch” (quel sale fils de p**e)”pic.twitter.com/dGdp99O84A

— Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) January 24, 2022

Nervousness

This slippage is a new sign of the nervousness of the 79-year-old Democrat, faced with an anemic popularity rating and struggling to revive his presidency. Inflation, at an unprecedented level in 40 years, is particularly affecting Americans less than ten months before the midterm elections, which promise to be particularly complicated for the Democrats.

Joe Biden was immediately bombarded with criticism from the Republican camp. “So presidential,” tweeted the very conservative elected Josh Hawley sarcastically, while some of his colleagues ironically reproduced old calls for moderation from Joe Biden.

Known for the incisive tone of his questions, Peter Doocy, son of a Fox News morning presenter, took the situation with humor. “No one has yet verified the veracity of his words,” he launched on his channel a few minutes later.

“What a silly question”

Last week, after a very long press conference during which he had promised to go into more contact with the Americans, Joe Biden had already expressed his annoyance by murmuring “what a stupid question”, to a question launched by another Fox News reporter.

His predecessor Donald Trump was regularly vilified for his verbal excesses and his diatribes against the media. After a heated exchange with the Republican billionaire, a journalist from the CNN chain had his accreditation temporarily withdrawn from the White House.