Fact Check: Did President Joe Biden Really Say That?

Yes, he did.

By
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Viral social media posts claim that President Joe Biden called a journalist “a stupid son of a bitch.”

The claims are accurate: At a White House event Monday, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Biden if he thought “inflation is a political liability in the midterms.” Biden was caught on camera replying, “It’s a great asset, more inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.”

Doocy appeared on Fox News later that evening and said that Biden had called him to apologize and “cleared the air.”

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

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  4. Kurt Von Fuchs

    Not a fan of the current president. Actually we haven't had a decent presents president since George HW. The real story here however, is that Biden apologized. Let's try that again Biden apologized what a novel and human thing to do

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    Ben Connelly

    He told it like it is… just kidding

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  6. Natty Bumpo

    Great! Another President whose behavior we can admire.

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  7. John Lamerton

    He did not apologize. Doocy said that to clear the air he (Biden) said "it's not personal, pal." That's not an apology. I'm only bringing this up because you're fact checking here and that Biden isn't contrite because he really didn't get caught on a "hot mic" This was just Biden being the Biden we all know him to be.

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      Gene Godbold

      I don't normally agree with Pat, but I think he's right about this one. I didn't vote for Trump or Biden, but (FWIW), I'd much rather spend an afternoon with Biden than Trump. And, yeah, I know that when he lies, he always lies in the direction of making himself look good. He's a politician. "Stupid SOB" is an honest reaction.

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      Dusty

      That’s an impressive spin.

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      PGC

      Not so convincing attempt to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. He didn't show emotion about inflation. He got cranky because he didn't like be questioned about it. He acted just like the last guy. I will grant that someone on his staff was able to get him to apologize, something the last guy would never have done, but he didn't do it out of any sense of remorse. It was the politically smart thing to do. Biden has always been a thin skinned jerk, just like the last guy. Although you want to believe Republicans are feigning outrage while the morally upright Democrats would never do such a thing, it is just possible that many Republicans truly are outraged about inflation and the president's willful ignorance about the impact it is having on all of us.

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          PGC

          Yes, he is a genuinely nice person. He continues to insist that the truck driver who was involved in the traffic accident that killed his first wife was a drunk driver. He was not, she hit him. He has never recanted or apologized despite repeated pleas from the family. He told an African American crowd that Republicans planned to “put y’all back in chains”. Charming.
          Also, he is a serial liar on par with, um, the last guy. Just ask ol’ Corn Pop, or his baseball teammates, or all of his old long haul trucking buddies, or Neil Kinnock. That list would take up pages. Finally, Biden exhibits overwhelming ignorance of indifference toward inflation when he says his 3-6 trillion dollar BBB will reduce inflation. You don’t have to be an economist to understand what in inflationary disaster that would be.

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        JohnF

        He wasn't really asked about inflation, he was asked if he thought it was a political liability for the midterms.
        If he says "Yes" then the headline that will be up on FOX in 30 minutes will read: "Biden says inflation likely to cause Dem defeat in November "
        If he says "No" then the headline will read: "Biden says he's not worried about inflation".
        If he calls the stupid SOB a "stupid SOB" then at least he knows what the headline will be.

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          PGC

          Can’t fault your logic.

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    4. Yisrael Gale

      Inflation is not a "feature" for anybody. All Americans, including Republicans, become poorer through inflation. Nobody who says they don't like inflation is "pretending".

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      2. cb76

        He meant Republicans are "pretending" to be outraged about Biden being uncouth in dealing with reporters. He's saying being an abusive jerk is a "feature" for Republicans, as evidenced by the kind of behavior they applauded when the last guy was in office.

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    Dusty

    I’m not going to pretend I’m deeply offended by this. I quite honestly couldn’t give a damn about it. Doocy seems to be following the Acosta playbook, so it’s probably well-deserved in the context of a journalist just being a partisan hack.

    But, just from a punditry perspective - not a good look for a guy who ran on restoring norms and decency. He looks flustered and frustrated.

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        Dusty

        Him saying it made headlines on pretty much every single news site. I didn’t hear about him apologizing until you said it, and it was a slow day for me so I was making my rounds on all the sites (Politico, The Hill, etc).

        So you can use it to reenforce your virtuous Democrats, evil Republican plot line all you want. That’s fine and rather predictable. But to say this is a “win” is just detached from reality. At best it’s irrelevant.

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  10. Ingenero.lux

    Made it into the official White House transcript. Oof.

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