President Joe Biden complained to friends that his aides “treated him like a toddler” after he made a gaffe about Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech in Ukraine, according to a new book about Biden’s tenure in the White House.
During a trip to Ukraine in March, Biden gave an address in which he veered from his speech, saying “this man cannot remain in power,” a line that was interpreted as the president calling for a change in Russian leaders, according to Franklin Foer’s book, “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future.” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reread the line to Biden as he exited the stage, and his aides later issued a statement walking back what the president had said, according to Foer. (RELATED: Vast Majority Of Voters Think Biden Is ‘Too Old’ To Run For Reelection: POLL)
“Biden left for home, ending his triumphalist tour, feeling sorry for himself,” Foer writes. “He knew that he had erred, then resented his aides for creating the impression that they had cleaned up his mess. Rather than owning his failure, he fumed to his friends about how he was treated like a toddler. Was John Kennedy ever babied like that?”
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy on Tuesday asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why the president is treated “like a baby,” in response to the book’s account.
“No one treats the President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief, like a baby,” Jean-Pierre told Doocy.
“So, there’s this book that says—” Doocy began.
“That’s ridiculous, it’s a ridiculous claim,” Jean-Pierre interjected.
.@pdoocy: “DOOCY: President Biden is the oldest President in American history. Why does White House Staff treat him like a baby?”
JEAN-PIERRE: “No one treats the President…The Commander-in-Chief like a baby. That’s RIDICULOUS.” pic.twitter.com/QSWRt9ylnj
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 5, 2023
Jean-Pierre said the excerpt in Foer’s book meant the president was not authoritarian before she touted the administration’s policies centered on “rallying the world around Ukraine.”
“The Last Politician” draws on “unparalleled access to the tight inner circle of advisers who have surrounded Biden for decades,” according to the book’s publisher, Penguin Press. Foer’s information predominately comes from anonymous sources within Biden’s “inner circle.”
Biden has repeatedly been criticized for his gaffes throughout his presidency. The president claimed in August that he had previously traveled “tens of thousands of miles” in war zones while speaking to veterans in Utah. Biden said during a speech in June that his administration plans to build a transoceanic railroad across the two of the world’s largest oceans.