Book: Barack Obama Frequently Frustrated by Joe Biden — ‘Shoot. Me. Now.’

US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama and his running mate Jo
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images
Charlie Spiering

Former President Barack Obama was frequently frustrated with Joe Biden, a new book claims, first as a Democrat senate colleague and then as his vice president.

“Shoot. Me. Now,” Obama  reportedly wrote in a note to one of his aides as Biden delivered long, rambling remarks during a 2005 senate confirmation hearing for then-President George W. Bush’s choice for Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

Details of the Obama/Biden relationship are featured in the book The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama by New York magazine journalist Gabriel Debenedetti. The Daily Mail previewed tidbits from the upcoming book Tuesday.

The book reveals the complex layers between the two Democrats, beyond pictures of friendship bracelets shared on social media.

Biden, an aging Democrat dinosaur, viewed Obama as aloof and condescending, while the fresh new face of the Democrat party viewed Biden as a rambling windbag.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden walk through the Crypt of the Capitol for Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony, in Washington, January 20, 2017. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite - Pool/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden walk through the Crypt of the Capitol for Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, in Washington, January 20, 2017. (J. Scott Applewhite – Pool/Getty Images)

“Joe Biden is a decent guy but man, that guy can just talk and talk. It’s an incredible thing to see,” Obama reportedly told his advisor David Axelrod.

One story featured in the book recounts a time Biden offered to get Obama dinner when he first joined the Senate, saying they could go to a place he knew that was “nothing fancy.”

“We can go to a nice place, I can afford it,” Obama replied, prompting Biden to view the young senator as arrogant and presumptuous.

As Obama’s vice president, Biden was suspicious and defensive, repeatedly standing up for his views when they differed from the president’s.

“I’m not going to grovel to this guy. My manhood is not negotiable,” he said, according to the book.

The book also reports that Obama was worried by Biden’s 2020 run for president, believing he was “tired” and that it would be “unthinkably painful” for the aging, gaffe-prone, rambling candidate to campaign.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives for a campaign event at the University of Northern Iowa, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (Matt Rourke/AP)

 

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