President Biden on Monday was caught on a hot mic calling a Fox News reporter a “stupid son of a bitch” after being asked about inflation.
As reporters began exiting the East Room following the President’s meeting with his Competition Council, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy shouted at Biden: “Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?”
“It’s a great asset,” the President snarked, audibly.
“More inflation,” Biden deadpanned during the hot mic moment. “What a stupid son of a bitch.”
Soon after the comment went viral on social media, Doocy appeared on Fox News to laugh off the situation.
Doocy resurfaced later Monday on Sean Hannity’s show, and said Biden had called him later that evening.
Doocy said that the President reached out to him “within about an hour of that exchange.” According to Doocy, Biden told him: “It’s nothing personal, pal.”
Doocy told Hannity that he initially didn’t hear Biden’s sarcastic quip in response to his question. He later saw that the exchange had spread like wildfire on social media.
“And we went back and forth, and we were talking about just kind of moving forward, and I made sure to tell him that I’m always gonna try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking. And he said, ‘You got to,’” Doocy told Hannity, describing his later conversation with Biden. “And that’s a quote from the President, so I’ll keep doing it.”
Asked whether the President apologized, Doocy replied that Biden “cleared the air and I appreciate it” and that “we had a nice call.”
After Hannity pushed the notion that Biden didn’t apologize to Doocy, the Fox News reporter reiterated that he appreciates that the commander in chief took time out of his busy schedule to call and “clear the air.”
“I don’t need anybody to apologize to me. He can call me whatever he wants as long as it gets him talking! … I think that’s enough. That’s enough. So we can move on. We can now move forward,” Doocy said.
