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President Joe Biden and Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy are unlikely to exchange birthday cards.

The pair have butted heads at pretty much every White House press briefing Biden has done and yesterday was no different.

Those hot mics catch everything, and Biden’s response to Doocy’s question will not be forgotten in a hurry.

The Fox news correspondent can be heard asking Biden “Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?” as reporters are ushered from the East Room.

Biden was not impressed:

His full response, in a sarcastic tone, was “It’s a great asset. More inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.”

You can already hear Fox and other right-wing outlets breathless asking “Can you imagine the uproar if Donald Trump did this?”

Yes, we can – he regularly insulted and belittled journalists. Remember his exchange with CNN reporter Jim Acosta?

Biden should never have attacked Doocy but, reports The New York Times, at least he’s tried to clear the air:

On Monday night, Mr. Doocy said on Fox News that the president called his cellphone about an hour after the incident and, in his words, “cleared the air.”

“He said, ‘It’s nothing personal, pal,’” Mr. Doocy told the host Sean Hannity. “We were talking about just, kind of, moving forward. And I made sure to tell him that I’m always going to try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking, and he said, ‘You got to.’”

Doocy went on to say that with the world “on the brink of, like, World War III right now” (Ukraine – it’s a mess), he appreciated that Biden “took a couple of minutes out this evening while he was still at the desk to give me a call and clear the air”.

Let’s hope Biden managed to squeeze in a nap and is feeling more upbeat today.

[source:nytimes]