President Biden caught on mic calling Fox reporter ‘a stupid SOB’

By Maegan Vazquez | CNN

President Joe Biden A Fox reporter was heard calling a “stupid asshole” over a hot microphone after a White House event on Monday afternoon.

The President’s obscene remarks came as reporters were asking questions while exiting the East Room. after a meeting of the White House Competition Council on the effort to reduce prices.

Fox White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Biden, “Do you question inflation…? Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms? ”

“It’s a great asset – more inflation,” Biden concluded. “What a stupid bastard.”

Official WH transcript. Just add something certain. pic.twitter.com/azb5jOAl6e

– Katie Rogers (@katierogers) January 25, 2022

Doocy said on Fox Monday night that Biden called his phone shortly after their exchange to apologize for his remarks. “Within about an hour of that exchange, he called my cell phone and he said, ‘Nothing personal, man,’” Doocy said.

“He cleared the air, and I appreciate that. We had a nice call,” he added. Doocy said he told Biden he plans to continue asking him unexpected questions, and the President responded positively to that comment.

Doocy had said on Fox earlier on Monday that he asked Biden about inflation because the President, when asked about Russia and Ukraine, said he wouldn’t take any questions off topic.

Doocy also said other reporters “had to tell me he said that because I couldn’t hear anything over the screams from (White House staff told press to leave the room). “

The president has grown increasingly frustrated as he has faced tough questions publicly in recent days.

When another Fox reporter at the White House, Jacqui Heinrich, asked Biden why he was waiting for Russian President Vladimir Putin to make the first move on Ukraine, he replied: “What a stupid question.”

Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a news conference that “the president has demonstrated that he respects the value of a free press.”

Psaki who is being asked about In 2008, Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, a court case against The New York Times, said the President “clearly took a step earlier this year to ensure that there can be no repetition of actions taken against previous administrations as it relates to to journalists. So I think that speaks to his commitment, but I don’t have any further comment on the incident.”

Psaki seems to be referring to Biden’s Justice Department policy change announced it would not seize reporters’ records in leak investigations.

At the root of the frustrations for reporters are the two major crises the Biden administration continues to deal with: dealing with inflation and the prospect of Russia invading Ukraine.

Just before the President’s Monday meeting on lowering the price, Biden held a video conference with European leaders to discuss concerns about Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s border.

Biden discusses options for leveling up the US military in the Baltics and Eastern Europe with his top military officials during a briefing at Camp David on Saturday, according to a senior official. And earlier on Monday, the Pentagon announced that up to 8,500 US troops has been placed on high alert for deployment to Eastern Europe.

Foreign Office reduction levels of staff at the US Embassy in Ukraine, ordered some family members to leave. And on Monday, the White House said American citizens in Ukraine should leave now and have no military evacuation plan if the situation worsens.