Biden Reportedly Prone to Yelling at Staff

An article published by Axios revealed that inside the White House, things aren’t exactly quiet. And that’s because one sitting POTUS has quite a penchant for verbal abuse.

Oh, but don’t worry! It’s not because he’s a giant D-bag or unfit for the job! It’s just because he cares too much.

“The private eruptions paint a more complicated picture of Biden as a manager and president than his carefully cultivated image as a kindly uncle who loves Aviator sunglasses and ice cream.

Some Biden aides think the president would be better off occasionally displaying his temper in public as a way to assuage voter concerns that the 80-year-old president is disengaged and too old for the office.”

Ah, yes. Because of all my critiques of Biden, there’s not a single one that couldn’t be assuaged by the revelation that he’s a huge dick to people that work for him. Now THAT’S a man fit to lead!

And people LOOOOOOVE getting yelled at by the president, don’t worry! Jen Psaki (that paragon of honesty and human decency) was quoted, “I said to [Biden] multiple times, ‘I’ll know we have a really good, trusting relationship when you yell at me the first time,” and the article takes pains to make it clear that “the president’s rages reflect his high expectations for his staff.”

Chief of Staff Ted Kaufmann said, “If there is something that’s not in the brief, he’s going to find it. It’s not to embarrass people, it’s because he wants to get to the right decision. Most people who have worked for him like the fact that he challenges them and gets them to a better decision.”

Isn’t he such a good, kind man? He’s only yelling at you because he cares about you. If you didn’t eff up the brief, he wouldn’t have to do this.

The article specifies that Biden’s outbursts include, more or less as a matter of record, “God dammit, how the f*ck don’t you know this?!,” “Don’t f*cking bullsh*t me!” and “Get the f*ck out of here!” Aides claim that he’s prone to a routine referred to as “stump the chump,” asking questions to make someone look stupid, and insists that people “ditch wonky, acronym-filled language and brief him as if they were talking to a close family member who isn’t in the D.C. bubble.”

There’s a lot to unpack in that last quote (“wonky?” Come on, Axios), but it reminds me of two things worth mentioning: the first, one of the best openings to The Office (US) which I quote constantly (I’ve included a screenshot of the best instance at the end of this article): “Why don’t you explain this to me like I’m five?”

The second is my grandmother, who currently resides in a memory care facility due to her profoundly advancing dementia.

When my grandpa died a couple years ago, we tried moving her from her home in Tennessee to a facility nearer to my parents. I’d say it went over like a fart in church, but no one ever called the cops thrice in one day over a fart in church.

While most of that saga is too dramatic to be applicable and too traumatizing to recount in its entirety, the point is this: my grandmother had no idea what was going on or why, and it made her scared and frustrated. She couldn’t admit it, either, lest she lost what she had (or at least imagined she did), and the erosion of her ability to appropriately filter and respond to those feelings caused her to be a right bint.

Am I supposed to believe that Joe “I’ve Been a Politician in Washington Longer Than Iron Maiden’s Been Making Music” Biden really has an aversion to politi-speak? Or is it more likely that he can’t keep up with new developments in government and politics and is covering for that any way he can?

I know what my answer is.

Now, as promised:

If you have a loved one diagnosed with dementia, my heart goes out to you. It is the ugliest fate one can suffer, but you are not alone– and I can promise you, the worst thought you’ve ever had during your journey isn’t half as bad as the things I’ve said.