Biden picks fight with the media
Prez’s attack has familiar ring
He’s a president who has declared war on the media, attacked his opponents as dangerous and tried to withhold important information from the public. Donald Trump?
No, actually we’re talking about an increasingly frustrated Joe Biden, who is taking a page out of the TrumpRichard Nixon playbook, attacking the media for his political problems.
Whether it’s ignoring the Boston Herald’s Freedom of Information requests or going after Fox News, the Democratic president has adopted the tactics of Trump, Nixon and many other unpopular presidents before him who blame the press for treating them unfairly.
Biden’s constant target is Fox News and its White House correspondent Peter Doocy. Biden has reportedly called Fox’s Rupert Murdoch “the most dangerous man in the world.”
Trump called the media the “enemy of the people” and an outraged media reacted with horror.
But when Biden jousts with Doocy, or the White House press secretary stonewalls reporters, or his administration refuses to release the payroll of climate czar John Kerry, the media has reacted with notable silence.
Doocy recently asked what the U.S. would do in response to a chemical weapons attack by Russia in Ukraine.
“Why should I tell you?” Biden said.
When the president added it would trigger a “significant response,” Doocy asked, “What does that mean?”
“I’m not going to tell you,” Biden responded. “Why would I tell you? You got to be silly.”
A few months earlier Biden was caught on a hot microphone calling Doocy a “stupid son of a bitch” — which prompted a phone call from the president to Doocy to apologize. Sort of.
“It’s nothing personal pal,” Biden told him.
Another incident a few years ago involved a Boston Herald reporter who confronted a beleaguered Biden about leaving New Hampshire on primary night.
After Biden incorrectly claimed he wasn’t leaving New Hampshire early — he was actually on his way to the airport at the time — he flashed his anger at the reporter.
“I’m going down to South Carolina, and then I’m gonna be talking to everybody up there. And why are you so negative?” he asked “I’ll be back. I’ll tell you what — this is just the first quarter.”
In this case Biden was right — he did make a remarkable comeback in South Carolina and went on to win the nomination, ultimately returning to New Hampshire triumphantly.
But now that his popularity has sunk to historic lows, Biden and his administration have targeted media who he views as unfriendly.
Doocy is Biden’s Jim Acosta, the overbearing CNN reporter who made a career out of being rude to Trump. Acosta ended up as a hero to Democrats and got his own talk show, which is failing because Acosta has no personality.