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Obama Quipped He Would Prefer Being Shot To Listening To Biden Speak: Book

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Former President Barack Obama’s annoyance with Joe Biden went so far that he actually said he would prefer someone shoot him than have to continue listening to him talk.

The excerpt came from New York magazine national correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti’s book “The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama,” The Daily Mail reported.

It came during the confirmation hearings for former President George W. Bush’s secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice.

Biden and Obama were senators then and Obama sent a note to a staffer that read “Shoot. Me. Now.”

“Joe Biden is a decent guy, but man, that guy can just talk and talk. It’s an incredible thing to see,” he said to his advisor David Axelrod.

The Long Alliance, by New York magazine national correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti, claims that Biden refused to grovel to the Commander in Chief, saying: ‘My manhood is not negotiable.’

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The lack of faith in Biden went so far that Obama thought about replacing him with Hillary Clinton as his running mate in 2012 because he thought it would boost his chances of reelection.

And in 2020, Obama reluctantly supported his former Vice President in his own run for the Presidency after overcoming fears his candidacy could be ‘unthinkably painful.’

There were other moments between the two men that were awkward.

In 2007, Biden said of Obama, “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Obama one time mocked Biden in an interview when he said, “I don’t remember what Joe was referring to – not surprisingly.”

And he reportedly said to him on one occasion, “You know Joe, it’d be fun to let you be president for just five minutes to see how you’d handle it.”

After saying marriage was between a man and a woman, Obama had planned to announce his support for gay marriage, but Biden got ahead of him in his own interview, causing the staffers of the president to be furious.

“We can’t trust him to say his lines and he’s out of practice anyway,” “He’s ruined what should have been Obama’s historic moment because he can’t control his loud mouth,” and “What the f***?” the book said.

It also said that Obama was “p*****” that his plans had “gone up in smoke” and said that he “couldn’t believe the VP had put himself in the front of their joint project.”

And former FBI Director Jim Comey said that “Obama would have a series of exchanges heading a conversation very clearly and crisply in Direction A. Then, at some point, Biden would jump in with, ‘Can I ask something, Mr. President?’”

“Obama would politely agree, but something in his expression suggested he knew full well that for the next five or 10 minutes we would all be heading in Direction Z,” he said.

Obama was also concerned about Biden as a presidential candidate, the book said, and Biden showed signs of why this week.

Biden apologized after “taking control” during a press conference when he said he “shouldn’t have.”

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He is the President of the United States so it is curious to wonder who should have taken control.

It occurred during a White House event on Friday, Women’s Equality Day, when the president was talking about abortion rights and he appeared to call on the incorrect reporter, Fox News reported.

He finished answering a question and then pointed to another reporter to take another question when it appeared that a staffer attempted to stop the question and end the Q&A.

“Thank you so much, Mr. President for –” the staffer said off screen.

“Oh I’m sorry, I …” he said. “I took control. I shouldn’t do that.”

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The staffer said it was “no problem” but the president again said, “I’m not allowed to do that.”

He then seemed to cede authority to his handlers, prompting them by saying, “Go ahead, you tell me.” Without skipping a beat, the unknown staffer took control of the situation, stating, “I think we’re gonna go ahead and have the rest of the conversation [barely audible] closed to press. Thank you all so much.”

Biden sat there awkwardly as journalists exited the room, still shouting questions at the president as they left. 

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