President Joe Biden is notoriously thin-skinned, but it’s still impressive how skilled Peter Doocy is at getting under it.
While the president was taking questions from reporters outside the White House on Thursday, the Fox News White House correspondent confronted Biden about recent polls that suggest he may lose to former President Donald Trump in 2024.
Biden attempted to disarm Doocy with a friendly little jibe, but the reporter got the better of him with a question that turned the president into a nasty, old crank in no time flat.
“Why do you think it is, in this election season — ” Doocy began before Biden interjected.
“Why do you think it is I always take your questions?” Biden cut him off while flashing a smile and putting his hand on Doocy’s shoulder.
“It’s a good one. I’ve got two good ones,” Doocy replied, unfazed.
“Why do you think it is that people should be more concerned about abortion access than your age?” Doocy asked the 80-year-old president.
“I don’t think it’s a comparable comparison,” Biden responded.
Doocy went in for his second question, which changed Biden’s demeanor in an instant.
“Why do you think it is that you’re trailing Trump in all these swing-state polls?” Doocy asked.
“Because you don’t read the polls — there are 10 polls, eight of them I’m beating him in,” Biden said, wagging his index finger at Doocy.
“You guys only do two — CNN and New York Times. Check it out. Check it out. We’ll get you a copy,” Biden said.
Another female reporter next to Doocy pressed Biden on the matter: “You don’t believe you’re trailing in battleground states?”
“No, I don’t,” Biden said, with a scowl still on his face.
It’s clear that Doocy struck a nerve citing a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, which found Trump is beating Biden in five of six battleground states.
Trump has the lead in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania — by at least four points. But even in Wisconsin where the president is winning, Biden has only 47 percent support compared to Trump’s 44 percent.
A seasoned politician like Biden could normally be expected to hold his temper even in the face of such dire statistics being spewed by an adversary.
However, Biden is used to being treated with kid gloves, especially by the media, so he is sorely out of practice.
In the past, his handlers have hand picked the journalists, selected their questions, and provided cheat sheets — complete with reporters’ pictures — to ensure the president is never asked any difficult or surprising questions during news conferences.
Perhaps that’s because they know that Biden’s notoriously short fuse is down to a nub due to his advanced age and the stress involved in ruining the country as president.
But without such a safety net, Biden is at the mercy of his own bad temper, and that has resulted in revealing meltdowns, including one instance where he allegedly kicked one of his dogs in anger.
Biden is prone to such displays whenever he feels cornered or attacked in some way.
Still, there’s something in particular about Peter Doocy that causes Biden’s nice-guy veneer to dissolve in an instant — and we’re here for it.
So? Was Biden or Doocy correct about the 8 out 10 poles? NYT and CNN both?