The Most Notorious Hot Mic Moments From Presidents
President Joe Biden sent shockwaves around the world on Jan. 24, 2022, when he was caught in what is known as a "hot mic" moment toward the end of a photo opportunity in the White House's East Room.
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy called out a question asking the president if the current rate of inflation could be a political liability, and President Biden gave a very blunt answer he might have not wanted the world to hear — while the microphone was still on.
"It's a great asset," President Biden sarcastically said, as if he were talking to himself. "More inflation. What a stupid son of a b***h."
Of course, President Biden wasn't talking just to himself. It turned out he was talking to the whole world as video of the hot mic moment went viral. He called Doocy later to apologize, and Doocy described the exchange on Sean Hannity's Fox show that night.
"Within about an hour of that exchange, he called my cell phone and he said, 'It's nothing personal, pal,'" Doocy said. "And we went back and forth, and we were talking about just, kind of, moving forward."
Of course, that wasn't President Biden's first hot mic moment. As vice president, he was famously caught whispering into Barack Obama's ear, "This is a big f***ing deal," as the POTUS was about to sign the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010.
And President Biden is certainly not the only president to be caught in a hot mic moment, saying things he didn't want others to hear while the microphone was on.
George W. Bush didn't watch his mouth at every moment
While President Joe Biden went viral after calling Fox News' Steve Doocy a "stupid son of a b***h" toward the end of a White House photo op, he's not alone in the habit of saying things not meant to be heard by the world.
In fact, two of President Biden's most recent predecessors made the same mistake, and the Independent compiled a short video of some of those moments.
In 2000, while on the campaign trail, former President George W. Bush expressed his honest feelings about a reporter at an event with his vice president, Dick Cheney. He called late New York Times reporter Adam Clymer "a major league a**hole," to which Cheney agreed.
Six years later, during his second term in office, President Bush was caught at an international event discussing Syria. "You see the irony is they need to get Syria to get Hezbollah to top doing this s**t over and over," he said.
Barack Obama spoke his mind at the wrong time
Former President Barack Obama had his share of hot mic moments, too. He once took umbrage with Kanye West's infamous 2009 VMA moment, when he walked up on stage and interrupted Taylor Swift when she won the award for Best Female Video.
President Obama famously had his say about the moment when in the Oval Office with a reporter, when he didn't realize his mic was on, per the Independent.
"The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person," he said. "She's getting her award. What's he doing up there? He's a jacka**."
Two years later, in 2011, President Obama was at a G20 summit with former French President Nicolas Sarkozy when he made a comment regarding Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu.
"You may be sick of him," President Obama said. "But I have to deal with him every day."
Furthermore, when President Obama was getting ready to run for re-election in 2012, he was at a nuclear summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and didn't realize his mic was on when they were discussing what the United States would do about missile defense issues.
"This is my last election," President Obama said. "After the election I'll have more flexibility."