After late-night host Stephen Colbert blasted Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy Tuesday night, calling him “a ridiculous man” and implying it may be OK to slap him because of a question he posed to President Joe Biden, social media users took notice and weren’t impressed.
“When faced with a journalist doing ACTUAL JOURNALISM, asking the President of the United States to clarify what he meant when he said the U.S. would meet a chemical attack ‘in kind,’ Colbert’s response is to mock the reporter for not being cool and advocate violence against him,” Batya Ungar-Sargon, the deputy opinion editor of Newsweek, tweeted Tuesday.
When faced with a journalist doing ACTUAL JOURNALISM, asking the President of the United States to clarify what he meant when he said the U.S. would meet a chemical attack “in kind,” Colbert’s response is to mock the reporter for not being cool and advocate violence against him. https://t.co/gjnvEoWJNb
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) March 30, 2022
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald chimed in, saying, “Stephen Colbert made his name at the 2006 WH Correspondents Dinner mocking journalists for being too deferential to the president. Now, 16 years and $150 million later, he demands journalists be more deferential to the President, says they should be slapped when confrontational.”
Stephen Colbert made his name at the 2006 WH Correspondents Dinner mocking journalists for being too deferential to the president.
Now, 16 years and $150 million later, he demands journalists be more deferential to the President, says they should be slapped when confrontational: https://t.co/QGifl8uxmW
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 30, 2022
Journalist Kenneth Vogel wrote, “At the WHCA dinner in 2006, @StephenAtHome mocked the press for ‘lacking the courage to stand up to the administration.’ Last night, he mocked @pdoocy for asking a tough, but legitimate, question of Biden. Colbert even suggested Doocy should be slapped.”
At the WHCA dinner in 2006, @StephenAtHome mocked the press for “lacking the courage to stand up to the administration.”
Last night, he mocked @pdoocy for asking a tough, but legitimate, question of Biden.
Colbert even suggested Doocy should be slapped. pic.twitter.com/LZpS5V3l6u
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) March 30, 2022
In a video referenced by the late-night host, Doocy asked Biden what a hypothetical response to chemical weapon use by Russia might look like, to which Biden vaguely said that a response would be “significant.”
When Doocy pried further, the president said, “I’m not going to tell you.”
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“Why would I tell you? You got to be silly.”
Colbert then mocked the question, which he called “ridiculous.”
“Remember how on last night’s show, I said that slapping is never, ever the answer? I would like to file a one-time exemption on behalf of the president of the United States,” he said, referencing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.
He further mocked the reporter, saying, “Uh, Peter, uh, Doocy, Fox News. I’ve got two more questions.”
“First, what are the exact locations of all of America’s troops? And can you give me the nuclear launch codes?”
“Just tell me, is one of them a four? Can I buy a vowel, Mr. President? I’d like to solve the puzzle, uh, ‘Another Feather in Your Map?’” he continued.
Fox News did not provide a comment to the Washington Examiner regarding Colbert’s mocking.
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Doocy has repeatedly sparred with both Biden and press secretary Jen Psaki in the past. Earlier this year, Biden called the reporter “a stupid son of a b****” after he asked the president if he “thinks inflation is a political liability.”
Afterward, Biden called Doocy to discuss the heated response. “It’s nothing personal, pal,” Biden said, according to Doocy. He didn’t say whether the call was an apology per se, but he said the president wanted to “clear the air” and that it was “a nice call.”
