In the spotlight: Joe Biden insults a journalist
President Joe Biden questioned by journalist Peter Doocy during a press conference at the White House, January 24, 2022. REUTERS - LEAH MILLIS
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
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The entire North American press is talking about it… Joe Biden insulted a journalist on Monday, calling him an “asshole” (“
What a stupid son of a bitch
”). During a roundtable, the White House chief was questioned by a journalist from the conservative Fox News channel who wanted to know if inflation was a political handicap for Joe Biden ahead of the November midterm elections. 2022. The president began by replying ironically: “
It is a great asset. No more inflation
”
.
And let go, thinking perhaps to have his microphone off: “
You asshole
”.
For the
New York Post,
this skid is far from unique.
It is part of a long list of verbal claws by Joe Biden against representatives of the press.
Last Thursday, a Fox News journalist wanted to know why the American president was waiting for his Russian counterpart to take the first step in the Ukrainian crisis.
“
What a stupid question
,” commented Joe Biden.
Also according to the
New York Post,
the head of the White House does not appreciate that journalists ask him questions that have nothing to do with the theme of his press conference.
Last July, reporters were invited to question him about Iraq, but a journalist from the NBC chain wanted to know more about compulsory vaccination in the army. Undisguised response from Joe Biden: “
You are a pain in the neck
”, which can be translated as “
You are really painful
”. The
New York Post
is surprised by this attitude, which resembles the behavior of his predecessor Donald Trump, who regularly attacked journalists. After all, Joe Biden had campaigned to reconcile Americans and appease the country. And he warned his collaborators that they would be fired for the slightest discrepancy in language. According to the
CBS website,
Joe Biden called the Fox News reporter he insulted yesterday, telling him it wasn't personal.
Towards a new missile crisis in the Americas
?
Another subject on the front page of the American press: the conflict around Ukraine and in particular the Russian strategy with regard to the United States. And this strategy also includes a reflection on nuclear weapons, according to Russian officials quoted by the
New York Times.
The newspaper believes that “
Moscow could consider stationing nuclear weapons in the Western Hemisphere, within range of American cities.
“
If this sounds familiar, it should be
,
”
adds the
New York Times.
"
It was the heart of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the closest the world came to nuclear war during the Cold War
."
According to the newspaper, Vladimir Putin's motivation is clear: "
If the United States does not withdraw its weapons in Europe -
even the aging tactical weapons that must be air-dropped
-
he is determined to put the same risk on American cities. .
So far, there is no evidence that he does anything other than talk.
But the mere fact of suggesting it reignited old fears,
” writes the
New York Times.
The newspaper recalls that last week, the Russian president had telephoned the leaders of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.
According to the
Miami Herald,
Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel and the head of the Kremlin discussed a strategic partnership and other ways of working together internationally.
In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro cuts in the social budget
It's on the front page of
Folha de São Paulo
:
Jair Bolsonaro has decided on drastic cuts in the 2022 federal budget, cuts that reflect his political priorities.
Thus, it has reduced expenditure for research (including the development of an anti-covid vaccine) and for the fight against forest fires.
The budget of the Ministry of Labor has been cut by a third.
Other targets for cuts decided by the president: education, support for Native Americans, the fight against violence against women and hospital subsidies.
According to
Correio Braziliense,
the president has preferred to maintain spending that is useful to him for his presidential campaign, including projects located in the constituencies of centrist deputies courted by the president who does not have his own majority in Parliament.
In short, for the newspaper
O Estado de São Paulo,
it is a budget at the service of its re-election.
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