A new report claims that in private, Vice President Joe Biden has a short fuse and uses profane language throughout the White House.
The report came from Axios, which summed it up by saying this side of Biden can “paint a more complicated picture of Biden as a manager and president than his carefully cultivated image as a kindly uncle who loves aviator sunglasses and ice cream.”
According to the report, some aides avoid solitary encounters with Biden in order to avoid bearing the brunt of his temper. “Some take a colleague, almost as a shield against a solo blast,” the report said.
“No one is safe,” one administration official said.
“There’s no question that the Biden temper is for real. It may not be as volcanic as Bill Clinton’s, but it’s definitely there,” said Chris Whipple, author of “The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House.”
Whipple’s book mentioned former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said, “I said to [Biden] multiple times, ‘I’ll know we have a really good, trusting relationship when you yell at me the first time.’”
“Psaki wouldn’t have to wait long,” according to the book.
Biden periodically loses his temper in public. In the past month, he has reacted angrily to queries about a diversity of topics from the media.
Biden Snaps at Reporter, Taliban Now Capitalizing on His Tantrum for Propaganda Purposes https://t.co/Ucrc69AOv1
— Tea Party Patriots (@TPPatriots) July 4, 2023
The New York Times took note of his private side in 2021 when it called him “a president with a short fuse.”
Axios reported on a 2021 outburst against then-COVID czar Jeff Zients that is still being discussed, but Zients’s representative refused to disclose what was said.
According to the report, Biden is also prone to interrogating his aides on issues until he poses a question they cannot answer, which is known as “stump the chump” or “stump the dummy.”
Biden's outbursts at staff are not rages. They're 'admonitions.' https://t.co/UrerFORZ6h https://t.co/vWx7Ykf3gK
— Byron York (@ByronYork) July 10, 2023
In his book titled “The Payoff: Why Wall Street Wins,” former Biden campaign and Senate adviser Jeff Connaughton mentions Biden’s volatility.
As a senator, Connaughton described Biden as a “egomaniacal autocrat… determined to manage his staff through fear.”
During the 2008 presidential campaign, a 23-year-old fundraiser entered a vehicle with Biden and said, “Okay, senator, time to do some fundraising calls.”
Biden fired back, “Get the f*** out of the car.”
Biden “hides his sharper edge to promote his folksy Uncle Joe image — which is why, when flashes of anger break through, it seems so out of public character,” Connaughton said.