Stupid Questions Pitched at Presidents

From Timothy Noah, writing for The Soapbox…

We’ve seen much commentary about whether it was inappropriate for Joe Biden to mumble into a hot mic that Fox News’s Peter Doocy was a “stupid son of a bitch,” and not enough about whether Biden’s assessment was truthful.

The first question is easily answered. No, presidents should not go around calling reporters names for asking stupid questions. Biden later phoned, Doocy said, to “clear the air.”

But yes, Doocy’s question—“Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?”—was stupid. Of course inflation is a political liability in the midterms. Doocy knew this, and he knew Biden knew this, and Biden, in his under-his-breath reply, confirmed through sarcasm that he knew this: “It’s a great ask, that. More inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.” (The White House transcript renders “ask, that” as “asset,” but that doesn’t make any sense. I think Biden said, “ask, that,” or, if he didn’t say “ask that,” that’s what he meant.)

Biden was irritated by Doocy’s question because he knew its sole purpose was to embarrass him. Doocy wanted to get Biden to deny inflation was high, which it is, or that it’s a source of all kinds of worry, including political worry, which it is. Biden was expressing weariness with the game, which, played properly, required him to dodge the question somewhere along the lines of, “I’m not going to speculate about elections that are still 10 months away.”

Why would you say something that stupid? Why would you ask something that dumb? Huh? My job as a United States senator, is a senator from Arizona, which I was just reelected to. You mean that I am somehow going to behave in a way that I’m going to block everything because of some personal disagreement? That’s a dumb question.

But let’s don’t make this solely about Doocy.

For the rest, click here.