White House Press Secretary responded on Tuesday to President Joe Biden’s outburst yesterday when the president called Fox News reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a b****” for asking about the political impacts of inflation.
“The President, the President called Peter, and [Peter Doocy] confirmed this, so this is only why I’m speaking to this, and if you have private conversations with the president, I will assure you I’m not going to convey that on your behalf,” Psaki said. “But Peter spoke to this, the President called him, he conveyed to him that it was nothing personal man and also acknowledged that all of you are going to ask him a range of questions. So I think that speaks for itself.”
Psaki did not say that Biden apologized for calling Doocy a “stupid son of a b****.”
Biden made the remark when Doocy asked him, “Do you think inflation is a political liability for midterms?”
“It’s a great asset, more inflation,” Biden responded. “What a stupid son of a b****.”
Doocy responded to the incident during multiple interviews on Fox News yesterday, including telling Fox News host Sean Hannity, “After years of clips of the president and I kind of mixing it up on the campaign trail and during the transition and here at the White House, within about an hour of that exchange, he called my cellphone and he said, ‘It’s nothing personal, pal.’”
“And we went back and forth, and we were talking about just kind of moving forward, and I made sure to tell him that I’m always gonna try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking,” Doocy continued. “And he said, ‘You got to.’ And that’s a quote from the president, so I’ll keep doing it.”
When asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity if Biden apologized, Doocy responded, “He cleared the air and I appreciated it, we had a nice call.”
Hannity laughed, noting that it seemed like Doocy was not answering the question of whether or not Biden apologized.
“He said, ‘It’s nothing personal, pal,’” Doocy again reiterated.
WATCH:
White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki says President Biden conveyed to Fox News' Peter Doocy that calling him a “stupid son of a bitch” was “nothing personal, man.” pic.twitter.com/DHqAhTh7f6
— The Recount (@therecount) January 25, 2022
TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: Does the President regret saying what he said about Peter, can you shed some light if you have had any conversations with him today about what happened last night?
JEN PSAKI, PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I would say what’s most important, and Peter’s sitting here, so this is kind of a funny thing. But the President, the President called Peter, and [Peter Doocy] confirmed this, so this is only why I’m speaking to this. And if you have private conversations with the president, I will assure you I’m not going to convey that on your behalf. But Peter spoke to this, the President called him, he conveyed to him that it was nothing personal man and also acknowledged that all of you are going to ask him a range of questions. So I think that speaks for itself. Thank you, everyone. Hopefully I did that justice.