White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre grew rather agitated on Tuesday after Fox News reporter Peter Doocy questioned her as to why President Joe Biden’s aides treat him “like a baby.”
While the question might seem to some observers as coming out of left field, Doocy was referencing a claim made in a new book that the President, rather than owning up to his mistakes, complains to friends that his staff has to “clean up” his messes.
“Rather than owning his failure, he fumed to his friends about how he was treated like a toddler,” Franklin Foer, staff writer at the Atlantic writes in his book “The Last Politician.”
“Was John Kennedy ever babied like that?” he added.
Doocy was armed with that information when he was called upon in the press briefing room on Tuesday.
“President Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. Why does White House staff treat him like a baby?” he asked.
Jean-Pierre replied: “No one treats the President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief, like a baby.”
DOOCY: “President Biden is the oldest President in American history. Why does White House Staff treat him like a baby?” ????
pic.twitter.com/xBu9AOR7Op
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 5, 2023
RELATED: Biden Bizarrely Wanders Off Set During Live Interview
Jean-Pierre To Doocy: Nobody Puts Baby Biden In The Corner
President Biden has long been plagued by allegations that he is micromanaged by a team of millennials with zero experience in the real world who feel they have to treat him “like a baby.”
His 2020 presidential campaign helped fuel those rumors as he remained hidden throughout, something critics quipped was evidence of Biden being “locked in his basement” so as not to slip up on the campaign trail with his trademark gaffes or lies.
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Jean-Pierre took a long enough break from feeding the President pudding pops and putting him down for nappy time to address the allegations leveled in the book.
“That’s ridiculous,” she said despite it not being ridiculous. “It’s a ridiculous claim.”
DOOCY TIME: “President Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. Why does WH staff treat him like a baby?”
KJP: “No one treats the President of the United States, the commander-in-chief, like a baby.”
Doocy: “So there’s this book that says–”
KJP: “That’s ridiculous.” pic.twitter.com/IhY4GYc4KB
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 5, 2023
Jean-Pierre continued to flare up in her response, telling Doocy that the context of the passage he is referencing does not paint President Biden as being treated like a baby, but rather, it was “making the opposite overall point.”
The point, she claimed, was that “the value of (Biden’s) experience and wisdom resulted in rallying the free world against authoritarianism.”
Of course, that wasn’t the point. The point made in Foer’s book was that Biden had nearly caused an international incident by going off script by seemingly calling for regime change in Russia.
Biden famously veered from carefully crafted comments in a speech in the early days of the war in Ukraine, saying of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
The New York Post reports that the comment “alarmed Americans and international US allies who worried it would spark retaliation and escalation from Putin — and his full arsenal of nuclear weapons.”
That doesn’t sound like Foer is trying to convey the value of the President’s “experience and wisdom.”
It’s saying his lack of wisdom almost set off a new World War.
President Biden: “Free people refuse to live in the world of hopelessness and darkness. We will have a different future, a brighter future rooted in Democracy and principle. […] For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” pic.twitter.com/2141bqKhHg
— The Hill (@thehill) March 27, 2022
RELATED: WATCH – Chuck Todd Hammers Amy Klobuchar on Biden’s Mental Health
Biden Wanders Away During Medal Of Honor Ceremony
Within hours of Doocy asking Jean-Pierre about being treated like a baby, President Biden bizarrely wandered away like a toddler during a Medal of Honor ceremony for a celebrated war hero.
After awarding the nation’s highest military honor to Larry Taylor, an 81-year-old retired Army Captain celebrated for his heroics during the Vietnam War, Biden bolted for the exits, several minutes before the conclusion of the ceremony.
“While Taylor shed a tear as the medal was pinned to his lapel, Biden appeared less moved by the moment as he was reportedly already heading out of the door before the closing benediction was read,” writes the Daily Mail.
Joe Biden just BOLTED out of the room immediately after awarding the Medal of Honor to Army Captain Larry Taylor.
The ceremony continued on for several minutes afterwards.
Biden completely missed a concluding prayer. pic.twitter.com/BjSdeHcLPD
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 5, 2023
Earlier this summer, the President curiously wandered off-set at the conclusion of an interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace even though the segment was still airing live.
The interview had concluded, but rather than wait for a cue for a commercial, Biden walked off the set behind Wallace – all while still live on air.
Joe Biden awkwardly stands up and walks off the set of his MSNBC interview instead of waiting for the segment to go to commercial. pic.twitter.com/MHcJ1ALmKQ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 29, 2023
Last year, Biden was caught with a cheat sheet provided by aides giving him some hilariously simple directions during an event.
The card Biden held up had an initial reminder to “say hello to participants” upon entering the room.
From there the instruction guide got so much better:
“YOU take YOUR seat.”
“YOU give brief comments (2 minutes).”
“YOU thank participants.”
“YOU depart.”
???? White House instructions to Biden: “YOU take YOUR seat.” pic.twitter.com/PyqN0zW3n8
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 23, 2022
Jean-Pierre recently dismissed concerns about Biden’s age, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper: “It is hard for us to keep up with this president.”
Which, as any parent of a toddler who has to chase them around all day will tell you, is absolutely true.
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