Man up, Joe.
Joe Biden’s office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation the vice president had with a conservative journalist last week on Capitol Hill.Lured into the interview? Please. The idiot thought it was a photo op and wasn't prepared for any questions. Too damn bad, Plugs.
Biden aides asked whether Senate rules were broken in the wake of the contentious exchange between the vice president and the reporter.
Jason Mattera, who works for Human Events, a conservative magazine, used a pretext to catch Biden off guard in a Senate hallway and grill him on claims the vice president has made about jobs legislation.
Biden’s office has also contacted the standing committee of correspondents, which oversees the gallery, regarding whether Mattera broke the rules by ambushing him.
Heather Rothman, the chairwoman of the gallery’s standing committee, said the matter is under review.
“We’re aware of the concerns,” said Rothman, a reporter for BNA. “It’s being discussed.
“We’re aware this occurred and the vice president’s office [has made] contact,” she added, noting the standing committee itself hasn’t met to deliberate the issue.
The video of Wednesday’s exchange went viral, as news outlets and the Drudge Report highlighted Biden’s comment to Mattera: “Don’t screw around with me.”
CNN aired a segment — including footage of the incident — the same afternoon, and a YouTube clip of the interview has already attracted more than 380,000 views.
Biden had just left a rousing rally where Democratic leaders said Republican opposition to federal funding for police and firefighters threatened public safety. But the cable news coverage focused on the dust-up between Biden and Mattera.
Biden’s visible irritation might be explained by how he was lured into the short interview.
All he and Obama want are pre-packaged questions they already know the answers to. They're unable to think on their feet and come off looking like schmucks otherwise. Now that he's whining about it he looks even worse.
Mattera admits to using a pretext to momentarily disarm Biden, but argues his methods were justified.Funny, but Biden played such a tough guy during the interview. Then like a little worm he complains behind the scenes.
“ABC and CBS have done undercover sting operations and have done them for decades. The fact that a conservative publication goes after a public official who was misrepresenting himself and a Senate bill to the public and tries to get an answer from him, that’s great,” he said in an interview Monday.
“The media should take notice that this is how you ask a question. If I had said, ‘Hey, Mr. Vice President, a question regarding your rape comments,’ he would shrug it off.
“He’s not going to take questions hostile to his agenda. I want to get him in that honest moment when he doesn’t have his talking points and isn’t prepared to spin,” Mattera added.
Mattera said his technique is “premised on looking to get the most honest reaction from politicians used to conning the media daily — and even their constituents.”
“You shouldn’t play patty-cake with politicians to gain access,” he said.
Since the network news outlets ignored this dust-up, Biden's best recourse would be to forget about it. He looked like and idiot, but then again he does that every day.
He just can't accept the fact he lost badly.
Update: I reached Mattera and he states simply:
The Obama Administration wants to take me on? Okay, fine. Bring it. My press credentials are a little something, something called the First Amendment.Also, John Hayward lays the smackdown.
Dude, You made it to the White House enemies list! That's big time. Congratulations. Knowing the pettiness of this bunch I hope your taxes were completely accurately.
ReplyDeleteWatch as Biden goes from "stupid but lovable" to just a "stupid jerk" #tcot
ReplyDeleteCry me a river Biden. If we had a responsible press in this contry, Biden would have been laughed off the stage a long time ago.
ReplyDelete