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Presented by Coalition for Medicare Choices: | | | | | |  | | By Alex Thompson and Tina Sfondeles | | | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Tina
*This newsletter is rated ‘M’ for Mature* JOE BIDEN is going to be relieved his mom didn't read this edition of West Wing Playbook. Behind closed doors, the former Catholic school boy is quite profane, according to several current and former aides. “When he gets going he definitely gets going,” said one White House official. In meetings with aides, Biden’s vulgarities include but are not limited too: “Fuck them,” “What the fuck are we doing?” “Why the fuck isn’t this happening?” “bullshit,” “dammit,” or just simply: “fuck,” according to several current and former aides. When pushing aides for better answers, he will sometimes say, “don't bullshit a bullshitter.” Some say they find Biden’s foul mouth endearing — a part of his everyman appeal that made him president. One former aide noted that’s true just as long as you’re not on the receiving end of it. By contrast, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS ’ favorite swear word is “motherfuck-ah,” [emphasis on the ahhhhh] according to someone who worked closely with her. She also alluded to this preference in a past interview. Her office did not respond. The Oval Office is a room accustomed to people using salty language but each president swears in their own unique way. LYNDON JOHNSON once told a staffer “I want real loyalty. I want someone who will kiss my ass in Macy’s window, and say it smells like roses.” DONALD TRUMP loved to cuss occasionally during racist rants, such as when he referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries.” And BARACK OBAMA told historian DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN the presidency made him more vulgar. “I curse more than I should, and I find myself cursing more in this office than I had in my previous life.” Biden has a distinctly self-aware — some would say old-fashioned — form of swearing. “When he cusses around women, it is always, and I mean always, followed by an immediate apology,” said one source. “He’s from a different generation but if there's people that are younger than him, especially women, he feels like, ‘Hey, how would I feel if I was cussing around my daughter or my granddaughter?’” said another former aide. “You don't cuss in front of women and children,” the person said. Biden also shies away from sexual profanity. He doesn’t use the f-word as a verb, for instance. One former aide explained that Biden is “way too prudish for that.” Biden is also careful to not swear in public … usually. Aides say that Biden was sheepish after he was infamously caught on the hot mic telling Obama the passage of the Affordable Care Act was a “big fucking deal.” Recalled one former aide: “He thought it was kind of funny but he was like, ‘Oh my gosh, my mother would kill me.’” The White House declined to comment; and, well, that’s some bullshit. Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you ALEIGHA CAVALIER, associate director of strategic outreach? We want to hear from you — and we’ll keep you anonymous: westwingtips@politico.com. Or if you want to stay really anonymous send us a tip through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram, or Whatsapp here. | | | | A message from Coalition for Medicare Choices: 27 million seniors and people with disabilities choose Medicare Advantage because it delivers better services, better access to care, and better value. Medicare Advantage has strong bipartisan support because it is a prime example of the government and free market working together to deliver lower costs, more choices, and better outcomes. Seniors and people with disabilities across the country are raising their voices to say, “don’t cut my care.” | | | | | | Courtesy of the White House Historical Association Who got married at the first wedding ever held at Camp David? (Answer at the bottom.) | | | MEA CULPA — Yesterday we wrote that Biden’s pick to be ambassador to China, NICHOLAS BURNS, is the brother of CIA Director BILL BURNS . They are not related. We feel stupid about the error. We are sorry to their mothers most of all. POTTY MOUTH, PART TWO: We noticed there were a few more foul-mouthed Biden tales in BOB WOODWARD and ROBERT COSTA’s new book “Peril.” Here are the highlights: When Biden noticed some of the equipment Trump used to golf famous courses virtually from the White House, he commented: “What a fucking asshole.” After Biden fell down while running up the stairs to Air Force One, he later told others that once he got up the steps and ducked inside the cabin, he muttered to himself. “Fuck,” Biden whispered. “Fuck!” And as Biden was negotiating with Sen. JOE MANCHIN on the American Rescue Package, Biden pressed him: “Joe, if you don’t come along, you’re really fucking me. I need you on this. Find your way to yes on this.” WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This story from the Associated Press’ CHRISTOPHER RUGABER with the headline: U.S. unemployment claims fall to new pandemic low of 290,000. The director of the National Economic Council, BRIAN DEESE, tweeted out the piece while arguing that “the pace of recovery in the U.S. has surpassed expectations - a byproduct of the President’s bold policy response to this pandemic. But there is still much work to be done.” WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: More bad polls at a time when Biden is hoping to convince the public to support his agenda. A CNBC All-America Economic Survey has Biden’s approval rating slipping to 41 percent. It was 48 percent in July. CNBC’s STEVE LIESMAN pins the decline on his handling of the economy and Covid-19. “Jay Campbell, partner at Hart Research Associates, the Democratic pollster for the survey, points out that Biden’s numbers on the coronavirus are particularly worrisome since he believes Biden’s perceived ability to deal with the pandemic was a major reason for his election,” Liesman writes. BIDEN STANDARD TIME: Good Morning America’s ROBIN ROBERTS sat down with first lady JILL BIDEN in the Bronx on Wednesday, in an interview that aired Thursday morning. The two focused on the importance of breast cancer screenings and FLOTUS said that while she’s a busy person, she did get a mammogram within the first month of being in office. After the interview, Roberts called the first lady “very approachable,” but also, late. Just like POTUS! “She was late, which is fine, which is real,” Roberts said. POPULAR APPEAL: Former head of the Office of Government Ethics WALTER SHAUB today urged “every last person on Twitter” to ask White House chief of staff RON KLAIN what the White House’s position is on reforming the filibuster to get voting rights legislation through the Senate. So far he’s prompted more than 400 people to tweet to Klain, and more than 900 have retweeted that request. Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a sweeping voting rights bill, which is once again putting pressure on Democrats to get rid of the filibuster. | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | SCOOP — DANIEL LIPPMAN scoops that Biden is nominating MARTHA WILLIAMS to be the director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Department of Interior, per a White House official. Williams is already the principal deputy director of the service and will be empowered to use the authority of the director. From 2017 to 2020, she was the director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and counts herself as a hunter, angler, and birdwatcher. | | | FED TRADING CRACKDOWN — The Federal Reserve announced today it will ban top officials from trading in individual stocks and bonds as part of a major overhaul of conflict-of-interest rules at the central bank in the wake of recent trading scandals. VICTORIA GUIDA reports that under the new rules, Fed policymakers and senior staff will be prohibited from active trading and will be able to purchase only diversified investment vehicles like mutual funds, according to a news release from the central bank. | | | GOING BACK TO VA — Biden is returning to the trail to campaign for former Virginia Gov. TERRY McAULIFFE in the closing days of the state’s hotly contested governor's race. ZACH MONTELLARO reports that Biden and McAuliffe will rally in Arlington on Tuesday, a week before the election in the commonwealth. It is the second time the president will stump for McAuliffe in the D.C. suburbs, following an event in the area in late July. | | | | A message from Coalition for Medicare Choices:   | | | | | | FILLING THE BENCH — The Senate confirmed TANA LIN to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Washington, by a vote of 52-45. Republicans Sens. SUSAN COLLINS (Maine), LISA MURKOWSKI (Alaska) and LINDSEY GRAHAM (S.C.) joined all the Democrats in backing Lin. | | | Biden races clock and holds few tools in supply-chain crisis (Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove, Jill R. Shah and Brendan Case) White House, intelligence agencies, Pentagon issue reports warning that climate change threatens global security (Washington Post’s Shane Harris and Michael Birnbaum) DeSantis calls for special Florida legislative session to fight Biden’s vaccine mandate (POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian) | | | He delivered remarks at the 10th-anniversary celebration of the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. In the evening, he and first lady JILL BIDEN head to Baltimore, where the president will participate in a CNN town hall. The pair is set to return back to the White House at 10:30 p.m. | | | She also spoke at the 10th anniversary celebration of the MLK memorial, and then traveled to Dumfries, Virginia to participate in a campaign event for Democratic gubernatorial candidate TERRY McAULIFFE. | | | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director ROHIT CHOPRA has experienced a myriad of different mispronunciations of his name. And back when he was a Harvard University student, he spelled out some of them for The Crimson. “People just assume that the ‘h’ in my name is a ‘b,’ so they often call me Robert,” he said in a Q&A with Crimson reporters. “Roheeet” and “Ro-shit” were other mispronunciations of note. And, he confessed he’s also been called “Road Head” Chopra “more than once.” His last name, Chopra, hasn’t been botched as frequently, he told the paper. “People seem to have been able to figure out my last name ever since DEEPAK CHOPRA became famous and started showing up on Oprah all the time.” | | | | INTRODUCING CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. GET A FIRST LOOK AT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | | DOROTHY "DORO" BUSH, the daughter of President GEORGE H. W. BUSH, married BOBBY KOCH at Evergreen Chapel at Camp David in June 1992 . Someone pranked the groom, a Democrat, by putting Bush/Quayle '92 stickers on the soles of his shoes, which wedding guests noticed when he knelt at the altar, ROXANNE ROBERTS reported at the time. AND A CALL OUT — Do you have a harder trivia question about the presidency? Send us your best one and we may use it: westwingtips@politico.com. We want your trivia, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering in this newsletter that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. Edited by Emily Cadei | | | | A message from Coalition for Medicare Choices: Medicare Advantage is 27 million strong: that’s the number of seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicare Advantage for access to high-quality, affordable health care. The program covers more racially diverse populations than original Medicare and approximately 40% of Medicare Advantage members make less than $25,000 per year. Medicare Advantage has strong bipartisan support because it is a prime example of the government and free market working together to deliver lower costs, more choices, and better outcomes. In fact, according to new data from CMS, Medicare Advantage premiums are set to decrease an additional 10% in 2022, dropping to an average premium of just $19 per month. And, with a 94% satisfaction rate among enrollees, Medicare Advantage outperforms original Medicare on 16 out of 16 different clinical quality measures. Seniors and people with disabilities are raising their voices to say, “don’t cut my care.” | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
