President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are labeled "inconsiderate, entitled and lousy" for letting two of their dogs repeatedly attack staff.
Titled, "Don't Blame the Dog, Blame Joe Biden," Politico senior editor Michael Schaffer chewed out the president and his wife after Commander, the two-year-old German Shepherd that replaced former first dog Major over aggressive behavior, bit seven people in four months.
In November 2022, a Secret Service officer was sent to the hospital for treatment after being bitten in the arm and thigh by a dog.
"Having a dog that bites the staff isn't corrupt," Schaffer wrote. "What it may well be is inconsiderate and entitled and irresponsible. That's not the stuff of impeachment, but it's kinda lousy all the same."
According to the Left-leaning outlet, one White House staffer wrote in an email, "If it weren't their dog, he would have already been put down - freaking clown needs a muzzle."
Schaffer agreed, giving a piece of advice to the presidential family: "Get your dog under control."
"Pets aren't supposed to bite people, whether those people are guests or postal carriers or neighbors walking past the yard," he continued. "Morally — and legally, too — it's the owner's job to ensure this doesn't happen… For regular folks, incidents like the ones with Major and Commander would, at the very least, lead to an unpleasant visit from animal control."
Schaffer suggested the media may react differently if the dogs belonged to a different administration, such as the Reagans.
"If Commander had belonged to, say, Nancy Reagan, the Marie Antoinette narrative would have written itself: Look at that entitled elitist, smiling for the cameras while her dog terrorizes the help!" he added.
The article goes on to criticize the Biden family's insensitive behavior towards those attacked by their dogs.
"Like another surreal story of this summer — Biden's apparent refusal to acknowledge his seventh grandchild, an out-of-wedlock daughter of Hunter Biden — it's a case where the power of a long-established reputation (Joe Biden, family man) runs into facts suggesting the contrary… Given the history of political pets, it's only natural that this kind of cognitive dissonance would apply to a story about a president's dog," Schaffer said.
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