WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A new book about portrays the president as someone whose helped foster a resentment of intellectual elitism that shaped his political career and sometimes caused strain with his onetime boss, Harvard-educated .
Biden, who spent eight years as Obama's vice president, told a friend that Obama couldn't even curse properly, according to 鈥淭he Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden鈥檚 White House and the Struggle for America鈥檚 Future."
Released Tuesday and written by Franklin Foer, a staff writer for The Atlantic, the book says Biden said Obama was unable to deliver a "f鈥�- you" with "the right elongation of vowels and the necessary hardness of consonants; it was how they must curse in the ivory tower.鈥�
Now, as the president , the early frontrunner among Republicans is former President , whose supporters can sometimes resent the perceived elitism of Washington's political class 鈥� suggesting some overlap with Biden.
The anecdote also may resonate with Democrats. Ardent supporters of both Biden and Obama fondly recall the then-vice president telling Obama in a private aside that was captured on a hot mic, 鈥淭his is a big f鈥�-ing deal,鈥� during the signing ceremony for Obama's signature in 2010.
Foer's book offers a deep examination of Biden's first two years in office, which the author describes as encompassing a lot of 鈥渇lailing鈥� before the president began to cement his legacy through and 鈥渃reative diplomacy鈥� that helped rally the world behind Ukraine in the face of
The 80-year-old Biden continues to , and Foer calls it 鈥渟triking鈥� that Biden attends few meetings or public events before 10 a.m. In private, Biden would 鈥渙ccasionally admit to friends he felt tired," the book says.
White House press secretary was asked last week by a reporter citing an early excerpt from Foer's book if personal fatigue might help explain why Biden's morning schedule was often light. She responded, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a ridiculous assumption to make.鈥�
Jean-Pierre referred back to that exchange during her briefing with reporters at the White House on Tuesday, and provided updated comment, saying that administration officials had now 鈥渟een the context of the excerpt." She said the book was actually praising Biden for helping to push major legislation through Congress and unify global support around Ukraine.
It "seemed to be making the opposite overall point about how the value of his experience and wisdom resulted in rallying the free world against authoritarianism,鈥� she said.
Jean-Pierre also said 鈥渢here鈥檚 gonna be a range, always, a range of books that are about every administration鈥� that would feature 鈥渁 variety of claims.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not unusual. That happens all the time,鈥� she said. "And we鈥檙e not going to litigate here.鈥�
Foer's book also describes struggles by to carve out a role for herself as Biden's No. 2 that have been previously. But Foer suggests Harris may have hurt her own cause in that area, initially asking to be in charge of relations with Scandinavia because it was 鈥渁way from the spotlight.鈥�
The book reports that the vice president was initially excited about helping the administration tackle the that have seen so many Central American migrants seeking asylum arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border 鈥� but that she eventually began to accept conventional wisdom that it was a thankless assignment.
Foer's book says Biden tried to treat Harris more respectfully than he felt Obama often had treated him as vice president, calling her 鈥渢he vice president" instead of 鈥渕y vice president." But, during his early days in office, as Biden was convening his team to combat the , Biden joked that the nation's top infectious disease expert, , should sit in the vice president's seat.
鈥淭he Last Politician鈥� describes the in 2021. It says that when Biden's national security adviser, , relayed to the president that Afghan President had fled the country, leaving Kabul to fall to the Taliban, Biden declared in frustration, 鈥淕ive me a break!鈥�
It also reports that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally intervened to help many women whose work in Afghanistan made them potential targets for the Taliban. She directed a group of them to wear white scarfs so they could be identified by U.S. Marines guarding the Kabul airport, and unilaterally contacted world leaders to find places for their eventual evacuation flights to land.
The book says Clinton's call to Ukrainian President drew a personal rebuke from Sullivan, former close advisor to Clinton, who told her 鈥淲hat are you doing calling the Ukrainian government?鈥�
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have to call if you guys would," Clinton responded, according to Foer's book.
Will Weissert, The Associated Press
