Biden curses at Fox News reporter after inflation question

US President calls reporter who asked him about inflation’s potential political consequences a ‘stupid son of a b****’ at White House event.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting at the White House. Picture: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Biden called a reporter who asked him about the potential political consequences of inflation a “stupid son of a bitch” at a White House event on Monday.

Mr Biden’s comments came after Peter Doocy, a White House correspondent for Fox News, asked the president if inflation would be a political liability ahead of the midterm elections.

“No, that’s a great asset. More inflation,” Mr Biden said sarcastically.

“What a stupid son of a bitch.”

Mr Biden was speaking at a meeting held by the White House Competition Council focused on promoting economic competition and lowering costs for American families.

Before the president’s exchange with Mr. Doocy, the group of assembled reporters mostly shouted questions about a possible Russian invasion in Ukraine — prompting Mr Biden to complain that they were uninterested in the topic at hand.

The White House didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

The comment was included in the official transcript of the event released by the White House press office.

Following the incident, Mr Doocy and his Fox News colleagues joked about Mr Biden’s comments on air.

“So, Doocy, I think the president is right, you are a stupid SOB,” said Jesse Watters, a co-host of “The Five.”

“Yeah, nobody’s fact-checked him yet and said it’s not true,” Mr Doocy replied.

Mr Biden and his administration have faced pressure over persistent inflation, which hit its fastest pace in nearly four decades last month.

Mr Biden has famously been caught in hot-mic moments before, most notably in 2010 when he touted the passage of the Affordable Care Act to then-President Barack Obama as “a big f***ing deal.”

He has also at times been visibly irritated with reporters since taking office and complained about media coverage of his presidency.

Last year, Mr Biden apologized for losing his temper at CNN’s chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, following his summit in Geneva with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Former President Donald Trump often drew criticism for insulting reporters in public.

He once called NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd a “sleeping son of a bitch” and praised then-Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte’s physical assault on a reporter.

Mr Trump also faced backlash for frequently berating female journalists and women of colour. Those comments include telling Weijia Jiang of CBS News to “ask China” about Covid-19, accusing Yamiche Alcindor of PBS of asking a “racist” question and being “threatening” and calling April Ryan, then with American Urban Radio Networks, “nasty” and “stupid.”

During the 2000 presidential campaign, then-Republican nominee George W. Bush was caught on a microphone telling his running mate, Dick Cheney, that New York Times reporter Adam Clymer was “a major league asshole.”

Mr Cheney responded, “Oh yeah he is, big time.” Mr Bush later explained, “I said what I said. I’m a plain-spoken fellow.”