A recent report has revealed that the persona US President Joe Biden has curated - one of being a relaxed, uncle-type figure who enjoys wearing aviator sunglasses and eating ice cream, may actually be a façade.
Former and current aides to the president are revealing that the Biden the public knows—the one who softly whispers “here’s the deal, folks” in addresses—is just one face the president wears in public. In fact, the president is so prone to anger, some aides tend to avoid meeting alone with him, or take a colleague to their meeting as a shield to protect themselves from his rage.
According to the president’s aides, Biden has exclaimed such offensive remarks as: “God d*****, how the f*** don’t you know this?!”, “Don’t f***ing bulls*** me!” and “Get the f*** out of here!”
“There’s no question that the Biden temper is for real. It may not be as volcanic as [former US President] Bill Clinton’s, but it’s definitely there,” Chris Whipple, the author of The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House, told the outlet.
In his book, Whipple wrote former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told Biden “multiple times” that she would “know we have a really good, trusting relationship when you yell at me the first time.” Whipple added in his book that Psaki “wouldn’t have to wait long.”
Biden aides reportedly indicated the president's anger has a variety of understandings among officials, some of whom see his behavior as a sign of respect and that it demonstrates the high expectations he holds for staffers.
However, some members of the White House staff have detailed that his yelling is equivalent to an interrogation process in which the commander-in-chief berates aides until it's clear they don't know the answer to his question.
One administration official reportedly remarked that "no one is safe" from Biden's ire.
"If there is something that's not in the brief, he's going to find it," explained Ted Kaufman, Biden’s longtime chief of staff. "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.”
It’s not the first time the president’s rage has been revealed to the public. Biden cracked his kindly uncle persona when he was caught on a hot mic calling Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a b****.”