Obama rolled his eyes and scribbled a note saying 'Shoot.Me.Now' as Biden talked at length, new book claims
Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden's friendship during their two terms has been much talked about, however, it appears that their camaraderie was not without its shares of fissures, as an upcoming book details.
Authors Steven Levingston and Michael Eric Dyson, in their upcoming book titled 'Barack and Joe: The Making of an Extraordinary Partnership', claim that the "bromance" between Obama and Joe that blossomed when the former took office in 2008 dissipated in the post-White House years.
The book, while citing an example of the alleged growing differences between Obama and Biden, states that the former Vice President sometimes used to drive a younger Obama over the edge as once the former president wrote a note to his adviser saying: "Shoot.Me.Now." while Biden was talking at length, according to the Daily Mail.
The former president subsequently did not support his former vice president's presidential bid in both 2016 and 2020 election races. According to the book, Obama, during 2016, was more concerned about what a Republican win would mean for his signature health care program and his place in history. The book also claims that the former president did not believe Joe could beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to secure the Democratic nomination.
"Joe, despite his many virtues, was just another white guy, one in a long line of American presidents — hardly the symbol of the Teutonic change that Obama hoped would mark his place in the history books," the authors wrote in the book, set to be published by Hachette Books on October 8.
"Barack had placed his bet on Hillary, the one he believed would confirm his revolutionary stamp on American's political culture - the first black president passing the baton to the first woman president."
Obama, earlier this year, had stated that the Democratic leadership required "new blood" and later did not endorse Biden when he announced his 2020 presidential run.
Biden later declared that he had asked Obama to not endorse any candidate during the primary season so that "whoever wins the nomination should win it on their own merits."