Reporters Used To Crucify Trump For Insulting Journalists, But Biden Keeps Doing The Same Thing

One of the most frequent criticisms of President Trump during his time in office was that he was too-frequently disrespectful and insulting to reporters who covered him and his administration. Over and over again, we saw examples of that in action — like the time in March of 2020, when NBC News’ Peter Alexander gave what was arguably a softball to the president in light of the Covid-19 outbreak. “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?”

Trump’s response: “I say that you’re a terrible reporter.”

Fast forward two years later, to the Biden White House, and in particular to a photo opp in the East Room of the executive residence. Biden, of course, was swept into office partly on the back of his promise to be everything that Trump was not. Nevertheless, the president lashed out with a Trumpian expletive after Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Biden on Monday whether rising inflation increasingly represents a political liability for him.

Before dealing with the president’s response — “What a stupid son of a (expletive)” — it’s worth pointing out that Doocy’s question didn’t come out of left field. In fact, a spike in consumer prices led inflation to hit a 40-year high earlier this month. Moreover, other commentators conceivably less antagonistic to the Biden administration than Doocy are … also asking these same kinds of questions, and looking into the same topic.

The latest episode of Jon Stewart’s podcast, for example, includes a deep dive on inflation and why it matters right now. Point being, it wasn’t an outlandish or gotcha question from Doocy, by any means. “Will you take questions on inflation then?” Doocy asked the president Monday. “Do you think inflation will be a political liability for the midterms?”

The president looked away, at his cabinet, as Doocy and other reporters were being led out of the room. “That’s a great asset, more inflation. What a stupid son of a b—.”

Biden vs. Fox News

Naturally, the exchange was already a hot-button item to discuss by the time Monday’s episode of The Five on Fox rolled around. And the exchange garnered a slew of headlines — all of which, by the way, come only a few days after Biden similarly insulted a separate White House reporter, Jacqui Heinrich, after the long press conference Biden held court for last week.

As reporters were being led out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building last Thursday, Heinrich asked why the president seemed to be waiting on Russian president Vladimir Putin to make the first move relative to the simmering Ukraine conflict. Biden sniped that it was a “stupid” question, leading to similar complaints then — such as a protestation from Republican Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn that the president’s response to Heinrich was “sexist and uncalled for.”

Fox didn’t have an immediate on-the-record comment about this latest exchange when I asked, but this post will be updated if the network responds to it — and if the White House decides to address it, as well.

As for Doocy, his pointed questions directed most frequently at White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki have produced some memorable moments in the White House press briefing room. Such as this recent exchange when he and Psaki tangled a bit over Biden’s insistence that the Covid-19 crisis is currently a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

Peter Doocy White House correspondent

In terms of who Doocy is and what he covers, meanwhile, he joined Fox in 2009 as a general assignment reporter. In his current role as White House correspondent, he covers President Biden’s domestic and international activities — as well, according to Fox, as “issues impacting the administration.”

During the 2020 election, Doocy covered Biden’s presidential campaign starting from the announcement of his candidacy in early 2019.

According to his Fox biography, Doocy has also reported live for every major election since 2009, in addition to covering a wide range of breaking news events around the country, including the August 2015 shooting of two WDBJ TV reporters live on-air. In 2014, he also hosted the documentary “The Man Who Killed Usama bin Laden,” which featured an interview with Robert O’Neill — the Navy SEAL who claimed to have fired the shots that killed bin Laden.

As a postscript about the Biden-Doocy moment on Monday, it’s also worth noting that it quickly turned into a bit of an idealogical Rorschach test. Biden critics pounced, decrying an attack on the press. More than one CNN journalist, though, took to Twitter to say that Biden “deadpanned” in response to Doocy’s question.

One of those reporters was Brian Stelter, who in the past took issue with Trump’s usage, while in office, of the same “SOB” language that Biden used today.