NEW: Behind closed doors, Biden has such a temper that some aides try to avoid meeting him alone.
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 10, 2023
POTUS go-to’s:
•"God dammit, how the f**k don't you know this?!”
•"Don't f**king bullsh*t me!"
•"Get the f**k out of here!"
My look at Biden’s fury https://t.co/gF638X5lCm
Zoom out: Biden's temper comes in the form of angry interrogations rather than erratic tantrums.
He'll grill aides on topics until it's clear they don’t know the answer to a question — a routine that some see as meticulous and others call "stump the chump" or "stump the dummy."
Being yelled at by the president has become an internal initiation ceremony in this White House, aides say — if Biden doesn't yell at you, it could be a sign he doesn't respect you.
Ted Kaufman, Biden's longtime chief of staff when the future president represented Delaware in the Senate, told Axios that Biden's process is policy-driven, and has made him a strong executive.
“If there is something that's not in the brief, he's going to find it," he said. "It's not to embarrass people, it's because he wants to get to the right decision. Most people who have worked for him like the fact that he challenges them and gets them to a better decision."
Some Biden aides argue that the president's rages reflect his high expectations for his staff.
"Speaking Biden" is a particular skill, they said. It can take years to learn to navigate his moodiness, and anticipate what information he's going to ask for in a briefing.
Some administration officials, many of whom went to elite schools, struggle with Biden's demand to ditch wonky, acronym-filled language and brief him as if they were talking to a close family member who isn't in the D.C. bubble.
Biden's defenders acknowledge he can be tough. But they also say he can be more generous and compassionate than many powerful politicians and can make them feel like family. That's partly why so many aides have worked with Biden for decades, and go in and out of his orbit, they say.Helps to get beyond the tweet/headline. And Biden comes off as an engaged executive, v. Trump who regularly wandered out of the room rather than publicly sign the bill he came into the room to sign, or needed briefing materials reduced to two pages, preferably with several mentions of his name in them. Which is the least of it.
One or two “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green [sic]” moments wouldn’t a terrible thing https://t.co/yLNyE1RK49 pic.twitter.com/KmPREYr5jl
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) July 10, 2023
NEW: In public, Trump occasionally elicits insurrections or, at the very least, assaults on journalists. https://t.co/HXERGnNPkY
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) July 10, 2023
Still only one temper king though. https://t.co/2zOsWTIkDr
— Schooley (@Rschooley) July 10, 2023
If he were a woman they'd be saying he's a real bitch. So, is it all old men in positions of enormous authority and responsibility who can't be demanding of their staffs, who also have enormous responsibility to help him carry out his enormous responsibilities or is this another one where it's just Democrats who can't? Again!
ReplyDelete