Is Biden Lashing Out at Reporters as Part of a Deliberate Strategy?

By Philip Klein

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

 

Philip Wegmann, a White House reporter for RealClearPolitics who was at the receiving end of one of President Biden’s recent outbursts, had an interesting observation following yesterday’s “stupid SOB” incident:

 

Biden has been increasingly prickly of late:

 

--Bull Connor eruption at presser

--Telling off a reporter asking about Ukraine: "What a stupid question"

--Calling a reporter, today, a stupid SOB.

 

For those in need of a refresher, during his press conference last Wednesday, Biden hammered Wegmann for asking about the president’s choice to lump in opponents of the voting bills he backed to Bull Connor and George Wallace. Biden angrily denied that he made the comparison (the transcript of the speech would beg to differ), and then he insulted Wegmann by saying, “That is an interesting reading of English.  You — I assume you got into journalism because you liked to write.”

 

At an event the next day, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked, in the wake of Biden’s “minor incursion” comment about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, “Why are you waiting on Putin to make the first move, sir?” And Biden laughed and said, “What a stupid question.”

 

Then, yesterday, we had the “stupid SOB” shot at Doocy.

 

It struck me that perhaps this is part of a concerted strategy. Maybe Biden has been getting advice that he needs to fight back harder against the press and show more public anger to demonstrate that he’s still with it and has fire in his belly. It’s also no coincidence that the recent episodes involved two reporters from Fox News and Wegmann, who is a conservative (who happens to ask questions that are critical but fair-minded). Picking these targets is going to provoke a much different response among the press corps, and generate much more cheering from the liberal base, than attacks on other news organizations.

 

Of course, it’s possible that this is just a sign of Biden, who turns 80 this year, losing his grip during a difficult stretch in his presidency, when his approval ratings are in the toilet and his legislative agenda is going nowhere. But the trend is worth noting.