Former national security adviser John Bolton said President Biden has “pretty well nailed” it by reportedly calling former President Trump, his likely chief reelection rival, a “f‑‑‑ing a‑‑‑‑‑‑,” per a report in Politico.
During his appearance on CNN Friday morning, Bolton was asked by anchor John Berman how closely Biden’s choice of words in private about Trump aligns with his own views about the former president whom he served under in 2018 and 2019.
Bolton praised Biden, saying he “nailed” it.
“Well, I think in personality terms, I think the President Biden has it pretty well nailed,” Bolton said while on Friday’s edition of “CNN News Central.”
Bolton’s comments come after Politico reported Thursday that Biden, in private, describes Trump as a “sick f‑‑‑”, citing three people who have heard the president’s remarks. The report also added that Biden recently said, “What a f‑‑‑ing a‑‑hole the guy is,” when talking about the current GOP front-runner.
Bolton has repeatedly gone after Trump since leaving the administration. On Thursday, he said his former boss is “fundamentally ignorant” about national security.
“But I would just say this. It’s not the personality of Donald Trump that’s the problem. It’s his lack of competence to do the job. The personality is unpleasant, but many people say, ‘oh, we can we can deal with the personality.’ I like something else. It’s not the personality that’s the problem. He doesn’t understand the job, particularly in the national security space,” Bolton said on CNN, voicing similar criticism he shared Thursday on MSNBC. “He didn’t learn much in the first four years. He certainly hasn’t learned anything since then.”
Bolton, who is promoting a new edition of his memoir, issued a similar warning about Trump and his competence in the national security sphere, saying that Trump’s potential return to the Oval Office might mark the end of the U.S. relationship and membership in NATO.
“In a second Trump term, we’d almost certainly withdraw from NATO,” Bolton said.