A new Axios article reveals intriguing details about President Biden's media consumption.
According to Alex Thompson's “Inside Biden's Obsession with Morning Joe,” senior White House aides try to book specific guests on “Morning Joe” to influence Biden, given his frequent viewership.
Thompson writes that Biden also consults co-host Joe Scarborough for counsel via routine telephone conversations.
According to individuals with knowledge of the president's relationship with Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, now a harsh critic of Trump, Biden often seeks Scarborough's advice on the issues of the day and sometimes expresses his frustration with media coverage.
Biden reportedly goes so far as to ask his staff throughout the day if they caught a specific segment, poll or story that aired on the program:
Biden pays particular attention to — and has consulted with — “Morning Joe” regulars such as longtime reporter Mike Barnicle, foreign policy expert Richard Haass and historian Jon Meacham, who has assisted on several Biden speeches.
Vice President Kamala Harris watches “Morning Joe,” too: She and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff hosted a dinner last month at the vice presidential residence for Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, his co-host and wife.
Aides have noted that Harris also tunes into Fox News, and occasionally watches “The Five.”
Some aides have felt that Fox News' relentlessly negative coverage — first casting her as Biden's all-powerful puppeteer, then later portraying her as incompetent — can drive Harris to distraction.
“It got in her head and caused high anxiety because they were constantly hammering her,” one former Harris aide confided to Axios.
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