CNN reacts to report Biden swears about Trump in private: 'He connects with people'
A CNN panel found a report that Biden uses profane language to refer to Trump in private as a positive for the president, arguing he appeared more relatable to the public.
President Biden's reported profanity directed at Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former President Trump call into question his past promises of respect and a return to normalcy in his comparisons to the former president.
Biden, who ran in 2020 on a "return to normalcy" after the Trump administration, has reportedly called the former president a "f---ing a-----e' in private conversations.
During conversations with his confidantes, Biden has allegedly referred to Trump as a "sick f---" who enjoys seeing others encounter setbacks, Politico recently reported. The publication spoke to three individuals who heard Biden make the remarks. One of those individuals added Biden also recently called Trump a "f---ing a-----e."
Former White House press secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki shared the Politico reporting on Sunday and said it may "have gotten Democrats a little excited."
President Biden has made reportedly highly derogatory remarks about Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump behind closed doors, although the White House denied attacks on the former. (Left: (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images), Center: (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images), Right: (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images))
"None of it surprised me, really," Psaki said. "I’m not condoning it, of course, but there were definitely some Democrats out there who may have felt seen by it."
Milan Kordestani, the Gen Z author of "I'm Just Saying: A Guide to Maintaining Civil Discourse in an Increasingly Divided World," told Fox News Digital that he felt disappointment in how civility in public discourse has played out since Biden took office.
"The public discourse [was] going to be calmer and more quiet and a little more civil [with Biden], and to an extent it was for a while," he said. "The perspective I have is I think people are really tired, and it’s just this continuation of disappointment that wow, we still aren’t acting like grown-ups to represent people."
CNN host Phil Mattingly suggested his off-script moments make the president more relatable. "I think it's interesting where that’s one of those moments where he connects with people by being a normal person. Kind of off-script Joe Biden that we knew when he was in the Senate or when he was Vice President," Mattingly reacted.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on December 19, 2023 in Waterloo, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Both GOP strategist Doug Heye and political analyst Errol Louis argued during the CNN segment that profane language was more acceptable in this day and age, and Heye said it was especially due to Trump.
Responding to the idea that some Democrats may like to see Biden have some fight in him with his strong language, Kordestani said it wasn’t "coherent" when Biden used tough talk.
"It’s not like he’s able to rally people, that it leaves people confident. It almost makes me think he’s less coherent when he’s becoming less civil, when he starts to curse and so on," he said. "It doesn’t feel like it’s coming from a place of using it to drive power in his speech and confidence in people and move people in a stronger way. It feels less intelligent, it feels less engaged."
Trump is well known for calling his opponents names in posts on social media and recently referred to Nikki Haley as "birdbrain." He also refers to Biden as "Crooked Joe Biden" and has often ridiculed his political foes and enemies with derogatory nicknames.
Biden nearly called Trump a "sick f---" in public during his speech last month marking the third anniversary of the January 6 Capitol Riot, as his voice trailed off. He had taken particular exception to Trump making mocking comments about Nancy and Paul Pelosi; the latter had his skull fractured with a hammer by an assailant in 2022.
Kordestani said he wrote his book about promoting civility because, during his time at Colorado College, he found there was no way for people his age to communicate civilly with each other in the modern digital era.
President Biden and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
He said he voted for Biden in 2020 and considers himself moderate politically, but isn’t sure who he’s supporting this time, noting he’s "tired of 80-year-old presidents." Biden is the oldest president ever and will turn 82 in November, but Trump isn’t far behind, turning 78 in June.
The president also reportedly has called Netanyahu a "bad f---ing guy," according to Politico columnist Jonathan Martin. Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates told the outlet that "the president did not say that, nor would he," and stated Biden and Netanyahu have "a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private."
Kordestani pointed to former President Obama as an example of someone who at least presented himself as a unifying figure. Although out of office for seven years, Obama is still far younger than his successors at age 62.
President Joe Biden speaks during the United Auto Workers union conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2024. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
"It’s a charisma, it’s an ability to be coherent, to build a confidence in people. In the last two presidents, there’s constant unrest and trending headlines of ‘Are we about to have civil war?’ … We need leaders who are charismatic and bring people together," he said.
The president lectured about 1,000 presidential appointees on respecting their colleagues in 2021, shortly after his inauguration.
"I am not joking when I say this, if you are ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot," Biden said. "On the spot. No ifs, ands or buts."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on October 28, 2023 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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"Everybody, everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity. That’s been missing in a big way the last four years," Biden added, referencing the Trump administration.
Biden was also reported to have called former Obama adviser David Axelrod a "pr---" in private. Axelrod has expressed concern over Biden's age in recent months, leading up to the 2024 election.
He made headlines in July after Axios reported he had lashed out at staffers using profanity-laced rants. One official in the administration told the outlet that "no one is safe" from Biden's wrath.
The White House did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News' Kristine Parks, Jeffrey Clark and Joe Schoffstsall contributed to this report.
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