CNN media analyst Brian Stelter offered a stretch in appearing to explain President Joe Biden’s ‘SOB’ remark in response to a question fired at him on Monday by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy.
At the end of an event as reporters were being ushered out of a room, Doocy attempted to get Biden to respond to a question about whether he believed rising inflation will impact his Democratic Party during the midterm elections in November.
“Do you think inflation is a political liability for midterms?” Doocy asked.
“It’s a great asset, more inflation,” Biden responded. “What a stupid son of a b**ch.”
During a CNN segment on Tuesday, Stelter suggested that Biden knew his mic was “hot” and knew what he was saying.
“New Day” anchor Brianna Keilar introduced the clip as Monday’s “big media story,” and viewers watched once again as Doocy posed the question.
“Mr. Doocy there is sort of a thorn in the side often of Jen Psaki, of President Biden. In the end, though, the president called him to apologize,” Keilar began as she turned the floor over to Stelter.
Brian Stelter Says Biden 'Knows What He Was Doing' When He Cursed Peter Doocy on Hot Mic via
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher
“Certainly you see the smile on Biden’s face. I don’t think he’s surprised this was caught on mic. I think he knows what he was doing,” Stelter began, going on to note that it was still not acceptable for Biden to say it before bringing former President Donald Trump into the equation.
“Whether it was Donald Trump saying Chuck Todd was an SOB or whether it’s President Biden saying Peter Doocy is an SOB, it’s wrong. No matter what,” Stelter said, referencing a comment former President Donald Trump made about NBC’s Chuck Todd, though not to his face, at a 2018 campaign rally.
“The president should be held to the highest standards. And so in this case, Biden was out of line,” Stelter added, noting once again that Biden had called Doocy after the exchange to clear the air.
“I think he knew it because he called Doocy right away to say sorry and try to play it as water under the bridge,” Stelter added.
Biden’s outburst has sparked criticism from both sides of the aisle, even dividing the table at ABC’s “The View.”
The Daily Wire reported:
“I hope it’s not politics as usual though. The former president set the bar low, right? One of the reasons why Joe Biden was elected, even though he has a history of being a loose cannon, is he was thought to restore civility to the office,” guest host Lisa Ling was first to respond. “It’s not like he just dismissed it as a dumb question. He name called. I just think, as a mom to young kids, these are the people who should be setting examples for our kids. And it’s like, more examples of men behaving badly and mothers having to clean it up because it’s giving license to kids.”
“I completely agree with you. It’s sort of beneath the dignity of the presidency,” Sunny Hostin agreed, but she said it was important to note that Biden had reached out to Doocy afterward. “That’s something that we would have never heard the former, you know, twice impeached, disgraced president of this country do.”
“It’s true, but I think he should apologize to everyone,” Ling continued as the hosts began to talk over each other and Joy Behar suggested that Fox News might fire Doocy for accepting Biden’s apology.