WASHINGTON – Despite his status as the oldest president in the country’s history, Joe Biden feels “pampered” by his staff, triggering the 80-year-old’s Irish temper, according to a new book that examines the inner workings. from the White House. .
The president’s gaffe-prone staff regularly works to clean up the messes Biden makes with off-script comments, but the efforts aren’t always appreciated, according to Franklin Foer’s “The Last Politician,” which came out on Tuesday.
That tension came to a head in the early days of Russia’s war on Ukraine when Biden, full of enthusiasm, bombarded what would otherwise have been a triumphant speech in support of Kiev, Foer writes.
The March speech was vitally important for Biden.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, had “goaded the president” while writing it, according to the Atlantic staff writer and former New Republic editor’s book.
“This is your ‘Mr. “Gorbachev’s speech, tear down this wall,” Milley told Biden, referring to former President Ronald Reagan’s shocking words near the end of the Cold War.
A new book claims Joe Biden felt “cared for” by his staff. PA
Foer writes: “At this last stage of his career, [Biden] he had largely stopped giving speeches with cadences and images that aspired to be described as Kennedy.
“But, here at the time, he strove to be elevated and built his speech to culminate in a grand exhortation about the moral imperative to thwart authoritarianism.”
Biden said later in his speech: “A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for freedom.
“Brutality will never weaken their will to be free. “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, because free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”
The president’s gaffe-prone staff regularly strives to clean up the messes Biden makes with off-script comments, but the efforts aren’t always appreciated, according to Franklin Foer’s “The Last Politician.”Penguin Press
But instead of ending there as planned, the speech culminated in an off-the-cuff statement that sounded as if Biden was calling for the ouster of Russian President Vladimir Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power.”
The statement alarmed Americans and their international allies, who feared it could provoke retaliation and escalation by Putin and his entire arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Upon leaving the stage, “Biden knew instantly that the White House would have to clarify its mistake,” according to Foer.
Biden’s staff, no stranger to backtracking on comments made by the president, quickly took the lead in justifying the controversial statement. But they did so without consulting the president, provoking the octogenarian’s anger and resentment, according to the book.
“By the time [he] They piled into the caravan, leaving [the speech,] his advisors had issued a statement revoking his sentence,” writes Foer. “Suddenly, the press no longer marveled at his rhetoric or his diplomatic triumphs; it was to re-describe him as a braggart lacking in self-control.”
Biden’s speech culminated in an off-the-cuff statement that sounded like Biden was calling for the overthrow of Russian President Vladimir Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS
The coverage infuriated Biden – who, according to Foer, “like Donald Trump…is a voracious consumer of television” – and he “went home, ending his triumphant tour, feeling sorry for himself”.
Deep down, “I knew I was wrong” to make the comment, Foer says. But instead of taking responsibility for the mistake, she “got annoyed with his assistants for creating the impression that they had cleaned up his mess.”
“Instead of acknowledging his failure, he raged at his friends for treating him like a little boy,” Foer writes.
“Has John Kennedy ever been pampered like this?”
Asked Tuesday to respond to the book’s allegation that Biden felt coddled, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rebuked the question, calling the book’s revelation “a ridiculous claim.”
“No one treats the president of the United States, the commander in chief, like a baby,” he said.
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