President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff ripped his old boss for focusing on a “fucking bridge” instead of the economy, according to audio obtained by Politico.
Ronald Klain was allegedly caught on a recording talking about the White House communication’s strategy on April 4 at a “Democracy: A Journal of Ideas” event. The president’s former chief of staff later told Politico that he was proud of Biden’s accomplishments, though he stood by his original critiques of the White House communication strategy.
“I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges,” Klain said, according to audio exclusively obtained by Politico. “He does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge. And here’s a bridge. Like, I tell you, if you go into the grocery store, you go to the grocery store and, you know, eggs and milk are expensive, the fact that there’s a fucking bridge is not [inaudible].”
The former chief of staff went on to stress the benefit of highlighting the administration’s infrastructure projects but added some skepticism.
“He’s not a congressman. He’s not running for Congress,” said Klain. “I think it’s kind of a fool’s errand. I think that [it] also doesn’t get covered that much because, look, it’s a fucking bridge. Like it’s a bridge, and how interesting is the bridge? It’s a little interesting but it’s not a lot interesting.”
US President Joe Biden speaks about Bidenomics at CS Wind on November 29, 2023 in Pueblo, Colorado. CS Wind, the largest wind turbine tower manufacturer in the world, recently announced they were expanding operations as a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
Klain spoke to Politico about the recording of his comments, adding that he had continued at the event to praise the president’s success during his time in office.
“The president’s most effective economic message is contrast around whose side are you on, and compassion for the [pinch] of family budgets, and his agenda to bring down costs and raise incomes — and that lauding achievements — especially ones with abstract benefits — is less persuasive with voters,” Klain told Politico.
The White House and its allies have abandoned using the term “Bidenomics,” which was dubbed as the general term for the president’s economic policies. As of March 24, according to an Axios analysis, Biden had not used the term “Bidenomics” since Jan. 25, aside from one address he gave in North Carolina in the spring. The president shied away from using the term during his State of the Union address.
Democrats were previously pleading with the White House in Sept. 2023 to reconsider their use of the term, fearing that the term was upsetting Americans who were continuing to struggle economically, Politico reported. Those close to the president warned the White House that the use of the term to tout economic success was failing politically, according to Politico.
The White House indicated to Politico that there is not much of a difference between what the administration’s communication strategy has been and what the former staffer was suggesting.
“Like Ron says, President Biden is crisscrossing the country building on his State of the Union message, highlighting that he is fighting to grow the middle class and lower costs like prescription drugs while blocking the trickle-down agenda Republican officials have proposed on behalf of rich special interests, including Medicare cuts and tax giveaways to big corporations,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told the outlet. “The President repeated that message in his Univision interview yesterday and will not let up.”
