- Doocy said he might have no choice but to embrace the “stupid son of a bitch” label Biden gave him.
- Speaking on Fox, Doocy said: “Nobody has fact-checked him yet and said it’s not true.”
- According to reporting from CNN, Biden has since called Doocy to apologize for the remark.
The Fox News reporter Peter Doocy laughed off news reports that President Joe Biden called him a “stupid son of a bitch” on a hot mic on Monday night, adding that he might have no choice but to embrace the label now.
In a clip from a press event on Monday, Biden appeared to insult Doocy after he asked the president whether he thought inflation was a “political liability” ahead of the midterms. Doocy appeared on Fox News program “The Five,” where hosts Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, and Jesse Watters spoke with him about the incident.
Biden appeared to mock the question, replying sarcastically: “It’s a great asset. More inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.”
“Somebody shouted out a question about Russia, and the president said, I’m not going to take questions right now about anything off-topic. So I shouted out something that’s not on my two pages of questions about crime: ‘OK, what about inflation? Do you think inflation is a political liability? And the midterms?'” Doocy told the hosts of “The Five.”
“And then he said that! But somebody came up to me in the briefing room a few minutes later and said, ‘Did you hear what the president said?’ And I said, ‘No, what?’ They said, ‘He called you stupid S.O.B.’ And I said, ‘Did he say S.O.B.?’ and the person said, ‘No.'” Doocy added.
“So, Doocy, I think the president’s right. You are a stupid S.O.B.,” Watters joked.
“Yeah, nobody has fact-checked him yet and said it’s not true,” Doocy responded.
“So you’re now, I guess, everyone’s talking about you. You’re going to be known as the stupid S.O.B. guy. I mean, before, you were like the hair guy, with the blond hair. Now you’re a stupid S.O.B.! Is this something you’re embracing, Peter?”
“Do I have a choice?” Doocy said.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I think you just have to walk around for the rest of your career as the stupid S.O.B.,” Watters replied.
According to reporting from CNN’s chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, Biden called Doocy on Monday night to apologize for the remark. But the hot-mic moment is now part of the official White House transcript of the session.
In an appearance on “Hannity” that same night, Doocy told the Fox News host Sean Hannity that he and the president had “cleared the air” over a phone call.
“After years of clips of the president and I kind of mixing it up on the campaign trail and during the transition and here at White House, within about an hour of that exchange, he called my cellphone,” Doocy told Hannity.
“And he said, ‘It’s nothing personal, pal.’ We went back and forth, and we were talking about just kind of moving forward.”
