We’ve known that President Joe Biden has a bizarre obsession with his predecessor for a while.
But it’s starting to seem like Biden’s focus on former President Donald Trump is more than just a political show. Indeed, you can almost picture him asking aides to check the closet to make sure Trump is not hiding there before he goes to bed — maybe that’s why he goes to Delaware all the time.
Biden has reportedly referred to the 45th president as “the worst president” in U.S. history and believes he should be prosecuted. He also told Americans standing before a truly creepy backdrop that Trump and “MAGA Republicans” represent “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
But on Tuesday, Americans got just another peep into Biden’s obsession with Trump.
Presidents usually display memorabilia on the table behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Indeed, Biden set up a bust of labor organizer César Chávez and family photographs shortly after he took office.
His Twitter account shared a picture of him on the phone with the caption, “Today I spoke with President Zelenskyy to underscore that the U.S. will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory.”
“I reaffirmed my commitment to continue supporting Ukraine, including through today’s new $625 million security assistance package,” it added.
Today I spoke with President Zelenskyy to underscore that the U.S. will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 4, 2022
I reaffirmed my commitment to continue supporting Ukraine, including through today's new $625 million security assistance package. pic.twitter.com/0ZP2uopn4n
One detail of the picture might have gone unnoticed by the average Twitter user.
However, CBS News’ Robert Costa highlighted the stack of books behind the president and wrote, “The president has an interesting pile of books in the Oval Office.”
The president has an interesting pile of books in the Oval Office. https://t.co/S8LEqtGc6i
— Robert Costa (@costareports) October 4, 2022
Undoubtedly, the book “Peril,” which was written by Costa and famed journalist Bob Woodward, was what caught his attention.
“The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history. But as # 1 internationally bestselling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis,” a description of the book states.
It continued, “This classic study of Washington takes readers deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with vivid, eyewitness accounts of what really happened.”
The book was published last year, so it is possible the president finally got around to reading it. Perhaps this answers the question of how Biden spends his nights — since he rarely holds public events in the evening. Maybe he snuggles up in the Oval Office with a sweater and a cup of Earl Grey tea and reads books about how horrible Trump is, and how hard his presidency will be. After all, he keeps meeting with historians so he can hear how much danger American democracy is in.
This feels like what commentators do during their TV hits when they position whatever the popular book of the time is behind them so everyone can see they are one of them.
The casual positioning of “Peril” feels like it is a subtle way of saying, “Yes, I know Trump is horrible.”
Still, it seems odd the president — who campaigned on unity — is apparently reading about how “bad” Trump is.
It could be an admission that a repeat of 2020 probably would not go the same way unless Democrats can scare the living daylights out of Americans about threats to democracy. And perhaps he desperately is trying to glean the liberal talking points about the 45th president to help drive that fear.
