7 Revelations About Biden's Angry Temper From New Report

President Joe Biden has cultivated an image as an ice cream-loving Grandpa who's far sweeter than his harder-elbowed competition, but new reporting from Alex Thompson, National Political Reporter at Axios, alleges the President is an "Old Yeller." He "hides his sharper edge to promote his folksy Uncle Joe image — which is why, when flashes of anger break through, it seems so out of public character," in the words of one source. Thompson appeared on CNN and revealed more about Biden's temper. Read on to learn more about the alleged flare-ups.

Regarding Biden's temper: "In public, maybe he'll whisper a bit when he is trying to make a point. But behind closed doors, he's prone to yelling. It's much saltier language and he'll really angrily grill into his staff to the point that some staffers are actually a bit afraid to meet alone with the President, really. And sometimes they'll bring in an extra person or two in order so that the firing line is a little bit distributed amongst several different staffers," says Thompson.

When the CNN anchor said, "This runs really counter to the image that most people would have of President Biden….Who is complaining about this?" "Former White House staff, current White House and administration staff—plus you even have people going back. We had a headline today, we called it 'Old Yeller.' But I can confirm to you that Joe Biden was a young yeller, too. We even talked to staff that went back to the early 2000s," said Thompson.

"The fact is that this is a guy that has been professionally staffed for more than half of his life, and he's had a long life," said Thompson. "So it's a bit over 50 years where he has had people staffing him, and as a result, there's a generational difference too. You know, he's really, really tough on staff and he already had that, as he calls it—'get his Irish up.' He already had that Irish temper, really lay to people and in some cases make them feel humiliated, make them feel embarrassed, and really feel like and truly be cussed out."

We cannot print the language Biden is accused of using but some of the phrases include "How don't you know this?," "Don't waste my time" and "Get out of here"—except with stronger phrases sprinkled throughout. 

Some see Biden's temper as a sign he's engaged. "If there is something that's not in the brief, he's going to find it," Ted Kaufman, Biden's longtime chief of staff in the Senate, told Thompson. "It's not to embarrass people, it's because he wants to get to the right decision. Most people who have worked for him like the fact that he challenges them and gets them to a better decision."

"Some Biden aides think the president would be better off occasionally displaying his temper in public as a way to assuage voter concerns that the 80-year-old president is disengaged and too old for the office," reports Thompson in his article.

"It's become routine since Russia invaded Ukraine: President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak by phone whenever the U.S. announces a new package of military assistance for Kyiv," NBC News reported last October. "But a phone call between the two leaders in June played out differently from previous ones, according to four people familiar with the call. Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he'd just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn't getting. Biden lost his temper, the people familiar with the call said. The American people were being quite generous, and his administration and the U.S. military were working hard to help Ukraine, he said, raising his voice, and Zelenskyy could show a little more gratitude."

The reporting is surprising because, generally, Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, has been known for maintaining a generally calm and composed demeanor in public. He is generally known for his empathetic and affable personality. Biden's team had yet to respond to the alleged behavior at press time.