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(Editor’s note: Language in the third paragraph might offend
some readers)
As journalists were ushered out of a meeting of Biden's
Competition Council, Peter Doocy, a White House correspondent
with whom Biden regularly spars, asked if it was OK to ask about
inflation and if it was a political liability.
"That's a great asset, more inflation," Biden responded
sarcastically over a din of reporters shouting questions,
apparently not realizing his microphone was still on. "What a
stupid son of a bitch," he added.
U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in December, culminating
in the largest annual rise in inflation in nearly four decades.
Within about an hour of the exchange, Biden called Doocy's cell
phone and said "it's nothing personal, pal," Doocy later told
Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment while
Fox News pointed Reuters to a transcript of an interview with
Doocy about the exchange on Monday evening.
Biden took office a year ago pledging to take a hard line on any
disrespect among members of his administration.
"If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another
colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I
will fire you on the spot ... no ifs, ands or buts," Biden told
political appointees during a virtual swearing-in ceremony.
"Everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity,"
he said at the time.
Biden's predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, famously attacked
reporters at rallies and news conferences, to the delight of
many of his supporters.
Doocy, who has long covered Biden, regularly gets called on by
the president at events, often asking skeptical and critical
questions. Conservative-leaning Fox News has been critical of
Biden's presidency and Democrats.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Alexandra Alper, Editing by
Rosalba O'Brien, Robert Birsel)
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