The tensions between former President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden are revealed for the first time in a new biography documenting the pair’s frequently tense relationship. The book, “The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama”, exposes that the past and present president did not have a comfortable “bromance” over the course of their nearly 20-year relationship, as many assume.
During their eight years together in the White House, Obama and Biden were constantly surrounded by headlines about their “bromance.” But according to excerpts from the book obtained by the Daily Mail, long before they entered office, Obama’s initial perception of Biden was “condescending.” And that he was prone to “rambling, clearly loving every minute of it.”
In his vice presidential capacity during Obama’s two terms in office, Joe Biden was accused of treason for announcing that he and his boss supported gay marriage before the president had announced it. Obama passed a note to a staffer during George W. Bush’s confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice’s secretary of state candidate in 2005 that said: “Shoot. Me. Now,” the book allegedly claims, said the NY Post.
Obama also allegedly mentioned once to his close advisor David Axelrod that “Joe Biden is a decent guy but man, that guy can just talk and talk. It’s an incredible thing to see.” The lack of confidence in Biden went to such lengths that Obama contemplated the possibility of replacing him with Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate in 2012, as he believed that this would increase his chances of re-election.
The book also asserts that Biden “rolled his eyes behind Obama’s back at his aloofness and glad-handing with fellow pols” and was stunned by his supposed “humorlessness.” In the book, which will be released Sept. 13, the author notes that Obama had a “special kind of fury” toward Trump, who ushered in an era of “amoral crudeness” that children would embrace. Furthermore, the book shows as in 2005, when Obama came to Washington, D.C., after winning a Senate seat in Illinois, he was skeptically received by Biden, then a senator from Delaware. In addition to being “wary of new faces” like Obama, Biden also felt “slightly annoyed” by the headlines that appeared to surround him.
After Biden became Obama’s second in command, their relationship took a turn for the better and they arranged weekly meetings together, according to the book. Obama, however, considered asking Hillary Clinton to be his running mate in 2012 after Democrats lost heavily in the 2010 midterm elections, the book claims – even though he publicly denied the rumor at the time. According to the book, the prospect of being replaced reportedly left Biden “distraught.”
Biden’s relationship with his former boss has been a source of intrigue in Washington even after he became president. When asked about Obama’s involvement in the current administration, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki spoke of their friendship. Jen Psaki declared that Barack Obama and Joe Biden “remain close friends and talk regularly.”