WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden responded to a question about inflation on Monday by calling a Fox News reporter vulgar.
The president was in the East Room of the White House for a meeting of his Competition Council, which focuses on changing regulations and enforcing laws to help consumers cope with high prices. Reporters in the room shouted a number of questions after Biden’s remarks.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Biden about inflation, which is at its highest level in nearly 40 years and has hurt the president’s public approval. Doocy’s network has been relentlessly critical of Biden.
Doocy called, “Do you think inflation is a political handicap ahead of the midterms?”
Biden replied sarcastically, “That’s a big plus – no more inflation.” Then he shook his head and added, “What a stupid son of a bitch.”
President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters during a meeting on efforts to lower prices for working families, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.
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AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters during a meeting on efforts to lower prices for working families, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.
The president’s comments were captured on video and by the microphone in front of him. Doocy laughed it off in a later appearance on his network, joking, “No one has checked it yet and said it’s not true.”
Keep scrolling for a look at Biden’s freshman year, in numbers
Doocy told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Biden called him later to clear things up. Doocy said Biden told him, “It’s nothing personal, mate.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House has repeatedly insisted it is focused on tackling inflation, with Biden reorienting his entire economic agenda around the issue. But the president has also shown a willingness to challenge media he deems too critical, including Fox News and Doocy.
During his press conference last week, Biden told Doocy sarcastically, “You always ask me the nicest questions.
“I have a binder full,” replied the journalist.
“I know you know that,” Biden said. “None of them make much sense to me. Fire away.
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BIDEN IN NUMBERS
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Vaccination rate of 63.5%. Most Americans have been bitten. Countries with higher vaccination rates: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
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3.9% unemployment rate. Low unemployment is a big highlight of Biden’s first year. He inherited a coronavirus-plagued economy with a 6.4% unemployment rate. Employers added 6.4 million jobs last year as unemployment fell well below the 4.6% the Congressional Budget Office had forecast in July for the end of 2021.
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7% inflation. Spinning the economy, Biden got burned as inflation hit a nearly 40-year high. Higher prices have led to disapproval of Biden’s economic leadership. Gasoline and groceries cost more, and some notable economists have said higher prices are a sign Biden’s relief package is too big.
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$1 trillion. The cost of Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, which includes $550 billion in new spending. To secure a deal, Biden withdrew from the $2.3 trillion he originally offered. He separately proposed $1.8 trillion for a package of social and climate initiatives, but that was amended and unable to clear the Senate. So Biden got about a quarter of the $4 trillion in spending he was proposing.
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13 deaths. The number of US soldiers who died in a suicide bombing at the gate of Kabul airport during the US evacuation of more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan. At least 169 Afghans were killed, with the evacuations leaving behind dozens of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies. More than 2,460 American servicemen have died in Afghanistan during the two-decade war.
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1.78 million border crossings in the South West. Migrants began crossing the US-Mexico border once Biden became president. There were 1.78 million encounters with border agents in his first full 10 months, a fourfold increase from President Donald Trump’s last 10 months in office.
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20 natural disasters. There have been 20 extreme weather and climate disasters that each caused more than $1 billion in damage and killed 688 people. These included a drought, two floods, 11 severe storms, four tropical cyclones, a wildfire and a winter storm. Adjusted for inflation, the United States has averaged 7.4 disasters a year since 1980, which caused $1 billion or more in losses.
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24 States. Biden has visited nearly half of the 50 US states in his first year. Excluding stops at his home in Delaware, the top destinations were Pennsylvania (seven times) and Michigan (five times). Both were key states in her 2020 election victory. Jill Biden went to 35 states.
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41 federal judges. Biden had 41 justices confirmed to the bench in his first year in office, more than any of his recent predecessors at the same time in their presidencies. Among them, 80% are women and 53% are people of color, according to the White House.
103 days. It took an average of 103 days for Biden nominees to need Senate confirmation to be confirmed. That’s longer than the average for candidates in the first years of the previous six administrations and nearly three times longer than during Ronald Reagan’s first year in office, according to an analysis by the Partnership for Peace’s Center for Presidential Transition. public service.
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9 press conferences. There will be a 10th on Wednesday. Biden has been remarkably shy of the press. He held nine press conferences (six solo and three joint) and 22 media interviews in his first year. That’s fewer press conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same time in their presidency, and fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors.
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32 references “not a joke”. It’s one of Biden’s favorite speeches. Among the things he said were ‘no joke’: civil rights icons, unions that built the middle class, air pollution from Delaware’s chemical plants, climate change as a national security risk, California voters disregard Biden polls over his economic agenda. Seriously.
