March 2, 2024

"Unlike other presidents, Biden is not an avid reader of books, consumer of pop culture or follower of professional sports."

"Aides and friends say he is likely to hear about sports scores from his wife, an enthusiastic fan of Philadelphia’s teams, rather than by watching a game himself. That makes personal conversation one of his only unofficial sources of information. 'Biden is not a recreational reader,' said Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff. 'He’s a voracious reader of briefings.'"

From "The private chats and chance encounters that shape Joe Biden’s thinking/After conversations with his grandchildren, fellow churchgoers and Delaware neighbors, the president brings their worries to the Oval Office" (WaPo).

ADDED: Imagine how this article would be written if it were a Republican President who didn't read books and confined himself to official briefings.

65 comments:

Humperdink said...

Good grief when are these people going to admit the president is functionally brain dead.

^^^^ This is a declarative statement, not a question.

Kevin said...

In the prior puff piece he spends his time pounding Jill.

Kate said...

"a voracious reader of briefings" -- My God, he's a lesser Dickensian character.

rehajm said...

Could we go back to dialogue about his favorite ice cream flavor please?

Dave Begley said...

Kevin wins the thread!

I wonder if those WaPo employees feel ashamed putting out such lies and garbage.

Tank said...

My guess is that he is an avid napper. Not that there is anything wrong with that! Just don't be the president.

Iman said...

Slow walkin’, crazed talkin’, gruesome lookin’ Nohair Joe.

Tank said...

"Kevin said...

In the prior puff piece he spends his time pounding Jill."

I see no problem with pounding Jill, but I don't believe that that guy who can barely walk is pounding her or anyone else.

Leland said...

Biden brings my worries when he enters the Oval Office too.

Jersey Fled said...

Weren’t Reagan and the Bush’s criticized for “net being avid readers”?

Jake said...

He needs to read the briefings to figure out new revenue streams for the brand.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne aka Doug Emhoff's Pimp Hand said...

Good one, Kate!

The rule of Lemnity said...

Biden is not a church goer?

Humperdink said...

From pounding to sniffing. It's a short trip.

Howard said...

Biden is actually like the Ronald Reagan character played by Phil Hartman on Saturday night live.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

So all the a-hole Soviets who work at MSNBC - are insane and wrong.

Maddow wants Trump in prison.

I want Maddow in prison. She is KGB.

Temujin said...

Everything about the coverage of this President would have been 180° different had it been a Republican. And had it been Trump? Hoo-boy.

Mental incapacities, physical impairments, lost looks, vanished thoughts, mouth parts that kick out of line mid-word. Not to mention he's always been considered an intellectual lightweight, and he knows it and has wanted to fight people over it. And, a lifelong graft-master. There's so much to not like about Joe Biden. And Democrats forget, they didn't like him either when he was running. Until South Carolina came and the DNC determined they had to put Joe in office or risk having a Bernie Sanders Presidency.

Such is the level of talent running around on the Left these days.

Scott Gustafson said...

I'm so old I remember the press belittling W for not reading enough books.

JAORE said...

Yesterday's briefing began, "See Tip run. Run Tip, run".
He spent hours pourng over every detail.
Expect a tribute to Tip O'Neill in the SOU address.

Dogma and Pony Show said...

I think GWB actually was kind of a voracious reader.

Anyway, I don't think rate of book consumption is a useful metric for determining if someone would make a good president. You know what is? Empirical results! Biden has been president for three years and look at what's happened: The Afghanistan disaster, rampant inflation, huge increases in the national debt, weaponizing law enforcement to go after political opponents, ten+ million of unvetted aliens sweeping across the border, and the list goes on.

Captain BillieBob said...

Biden only reads briefing papers. Does that make him a one trick dog faced pony soldier?

Maynard said...

Good grief when are these people going to admit the president is functionally brain dead.

It is difficult to discern because Uncle Joe was always pretty close to brain dead for the last 40 years.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Old husk-puppet Crook Joe can barely read his Q cards.

F off - media hacks.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Kevin - LOL.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Putin arrests another Journalist

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Howard - no he isn't.

Husk-puppet is a prop for you leftists.

PB said...

I don't think he reads briefings much beyond the summary. Joe has never been viewed as a intellect, to put it mildly.

William said...

Chats with fellow churchgoers. That sounds folksy. He's in touch with the common man, and, moreover, the church going kind of common man. What a great guy.....I'm inclined to think that to the extent Biden is capable of carrying on a comprehensible conversation such conversation is restricted of Jill and a few trusted pols. Biden just doesn't look like the kind of guy who turns to God or to fellow church goers to help him define his goals and priorities.....It really takes some doing to write a puff piece on Joe Biden, but they make the effort.

Rusty said...

The4 guy has to be reminded to breath fer chrisakes. It's going to be interesting when the prednizone catches up with him. Not tp mention the other "enhancers" his proxys have got him on.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Biden goes to church? LOL.

No he doesn't. What liars.

chickelit said...

“ADDED: Imagine how this article would be written if it were a Republican President who didn't read books and confined himself to official briefings.”

Today’s media: comforting the comfortable (D’s) and afflicting the afflicted (R’s). I continue to praise for the modern Fourth Estate’s early demise.

Levi Starks said...

He’s quite good at increasing the family largesse, and ranting that his memory’s fine.
Can’t we just be happy with that?

Levi Starks said...

He’s a real no where man.
Sitting in his no where land.

hombre said...

"... fellow churchgoers ...." Bwahahaha!

Michael said...

This explains a lot.

RMc said...

To be fair, Biden's mind has regressed to that of a young child...and books, pop culture and professional sports didn't exist back then.

Yancey Ward said...

LOL! I guarantee you Biden ain't reading any of these briefings either, at least not in the last 10 years.

Robert Cook said...

One can be sure Donald Trump doesn't read books. He didn't even write the book he "wrote!" But then, it's sure most of his voters don't read books, either. (Let's face it...most Americans don't read books!)

Yancey Ward said...

For once, I am going to defend Howard- I think his comment was sarcastic, since that is how I interpreted this story, too- it was a deceptive story to try to make us think Biden is competent and running things.

Robert Cook said...

"a voracious reader of briefings" -- My God, he's a lesser Dickensian character."

Well, at least he reads briefings. I'm pretty sure Trump never even did that. Whatever briefings he received were likely abbreviated, highly simplified summaries told to him verbally in one-on-one meetings.

RCOCEAN II said...

That Biden is a serious man without interest in "pop culture" or Sports is a point in his favor. As for being a "reader", it depends on what you read and the ability of your mind to retain and use it to broaden and deepen your outlook on the world.

Bush claims to be a Big reader who got through 1 book a week while POTUS. Yet, the effects of these great books on Bush were nowhere to be seen either in his speaking or his policy.

Presidents usually are NOT readers or pop culture guys. Despite the propaganda JFK wasn't a "reader" or consumer of high culture. Ike read cowboy novels, FDR liked detective stories. Nixon didn't know who archie bunker was (the No.1 show on TV) until Haldermann told him. Reagan only read books on politics and Economics (to the disdain of Morris). Its hard to find many President's who were serious "readers". You have to go back to Coolidge, Wilson and TR. And maybe Hoover.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Don't forget - Biden once dropped out of the race due to the fact that he was found to be a plagiarist.

that too is memory-holed by the crooked media.

Mea Sententia said...

Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin, "What do you read?" Palin responded, "Whatever they put in front of me." She was mocked for that answer, which wasn't the best answer but was also probably true.

So how many pages of briefings does Biden read? I imagine it could be quite a lot. It surprises me that presidents have the mental energy left over to read anything that's not work related.

Mr. O. Possum said...

Eisenhower read classic works of Greek and Roman military history. He knew his ancient battlefields well. He was also a master of disguising how smart he was

Tina Trent said...

Very funny, Kate.

Joe Smith said...

I doubt he 'reads' anything.

More like staring at a page and mumbling.

The man was a 90-95 IQ guy in his prime, when he finished near the bottom of his law school class.

"When Joe Biden was running for president for the first time in 1987, he was forced to admit that he had plagiarized parts of a paper he submitted as a first-year law student in 1965."

-- Newsweek

"Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. claimed during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire last spring that he finished in the top half of his law school class, although records indicate he finished near the bottom, Newsweek magazine reported today."

-- LA Times

Jupiter said...

"Imagine how this article would be written if it were a Republican President who didn't read books and confined himself to official briefings."

Are you suggesting that WaPo's reporting is not always even-handed and objective?

Narr said...

"That Biden is a serious man without interest in 'pop culture' or Sports is a point in his favor."

I agree with the second part but have no reason to conclude that Biden is a serious man about anything but the advancement of F Joe Biden and his hangers-on.

I would say the same about Trump too.

gilbar said...

Biden is not an avid reader of books, consumer of pop culture or follower of sports

serious question: In Order to be any of these things.. wouldn't you HAVE TO be able to stay up late?
or, at least; stay awake for More Than 90 minutes?

HOW could resident Biden finish a book? and remember the beginning?
HOW could resident Biden make it through an entire movie, or football game?

OF COURSE he has to rely on Dr Jill (his nurse) TELLING him the scores the next morning.
Is there a person On Earth, that thinks that resident Biden could stay up until 10 pm?

Michael said...

Robert Cook, mind reader and White House insider. . “Well, at least he reads briefings. I'm pretty sure Trump never even did that. Whatever briefings he received were likely abbreviated, highly simplified summaries told to him verbally in one-on-one meetings.”

rehajm said...

I walked to an office where the staffer had an iPad on the desk tuned to Fox news- there was a border agent with full flack jacket guiding an elderly immigrant who had his frail hand on the agent’s shoulder. A touching moment…except I suddenly realize it wasn’t a frail man caught crossing the border…

Joe Smith said...

"One can be sure Donald Trump doesn't read books. He didn't even write the book he "wrote!" But then, it's sure most of his voters don't read books, either. (Let's face it...most Americans don't read books!)"

Pure supposition. But someone like Trump probably has little time. He is much busier than Biden and does much more work.

As for Trump's books, he puts the name of the writer on the covers. No hidden agenda.

Joe Smith said...

"Imagine how this article would be written if it were a Republican President who didn't read books and confined himself to official briefings."

Headline: "Trump either doesn't read or doesn't know how. Single-handedly puts publishers out of business!"

Joe Smith said...

'Chats with fellow churchgoers.'

Yes. The most devout Catholic president we've ever had, and yet he never seems to attend mass...

effinayright said...

Robert Cook said...
One can be sure Donald Trump doesn't read books. He didn't even write the book he "wrote!" But then, it's sure most of his voters don't read books, either. (Let's face it...most Americans don't read books!)
********************

More Kookian flatulence.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-books-read-per-year-by-country

France 17.00
Canada 17.00
United States 12.00
South Korea 11.00
Spain 9.90
Portugal 8.50
Estonia 6.00
Chile 5.30
Peru 3.30
Brazil 2.50

Let's not forget, these stats do not reflect time people spend reading articles on-line.

Robert Cook said...

"...someone like Trump probably has little time. He is much busier than Biden and does much more work."

Really? Busy doing what?

Jim at said...

Cook. The subject is Joe Biden. Not Donald Trump.

Robert Cook said...

"https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-books-read-per-year-by-country

France 17.00
Canada 17.00
United States 12.00
South Korea 11.00
Spain 9.90
Portugal 8.50
Estonia 6.00
Chile 5.30
Peru 3.30
Brazil 2.50"


Bear in mind, this is an average of all Americans. A majority of the population may read only one or even no books in a year, but the number of books read in a year by those who do read books are enough to support the average of "12 books read per year" by Americans. This also includes, no doubt, school students (at all levels) and others who must read books, assigned or not, for study or work.

Narr said...

Cook is correct--most Americans don't read books. Stats about books per capita per year say nothing about how many Americans, or what proportion, actually are doing the reading.

The 80/20 rule probably applies here.

(I'm generously counting audio-listens as reads.)

Joe Smith said...

"Really? Busy doing what?"

Campaigning and helping to run a business that employs thousands.

Joe and his family have spent their live sucking on the government teat and taking $$ (and diamonds) from hostile governments.

The Bidens are parasites.

Marc in Eugene said...

Yes. The most devout Catholic president we've ever had, and yet he never seems to attend mass...

I don't inquire into JRB's Mass-going habits but his selective disregard for Catholic morality (e.g. abortion, euthanasia, the gender nonsense, a nation's right to control its borders and regulate immigration) and what this may say about his idiosyncratic version of the Catholic religion puts him outside the pale, so far as I'm concerned.

Aggie said...

I remember my mom, whose advancing dementia could fool you. She was a career school teacher with a Master's in Psychology, and long before that, she was an orphan in the Great Depression. She knew survival, and she had skills, and she was able to fool a lot of doctors on cognizance examinations because she knew them inside-out. Growing up in an orphanage had made her fierce about her freedom. My sister had to brief doctors before the appointments, so they could be on the lookout.

She was smart and very canny, and could pass obstacles that would stymie ordinary dementia patients. But I remember, poignantly, one time when I took her out to a fancy restaurant for a nice meal, French food. We were seated, given water and menus, and the chatter seemed to go on forever without much progress until I finally realized that she could no longer read a menu and comprehend it. That

That's Joe Biden, right now. He's been in politics all of his adult life, and his leadership, right now, is the behavioral equivalent of muscle memory. He is not reading a f*ckin' thing, he's just getting a picture taken. Jill's doing the reading.

Nice said...

I remember when Katie Couric asked Candidate Sarah Palin what books she'd read lately, and the ensuing outrage over that question.

Ralph L said...

The most devout Catholic president we've ever had

It took only one Hail Mary to get ahead of JFK.

John Althouse Cohen said...

The article actually gives examples of books Biden has read recently. I doubt this would be considered news if it were about anyone else in the world.