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- Obama vented to a prospective 2020 presidential candidate about reporters calling him "aloof."
- "Motherf—ers, I'm aloof with you because I don't want to talk to you," he reportedly said.
- This scene comes from The Atlantic reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere's forthcoming book.
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Former President Barack Obama, normally reserved and measured in his signature speaking cadence, reportedly got real with a prospective presidential candidate during a sitdown ahead of the 2020 Democratic primary.
According to The Atlantic's Edward-Isaac Dovere in his forthcoming book, titled "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump," Obama vented about political reporters and how they covered him.
"Motherf—ers, I'm aloof with you because I don't want to talk to you," Obama said, according to Dovere.
The candidate Obama met with was not named. The exchange comes in a passage about Obama meeting with other presidential hopefuls, such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Obama's qualms with being described as "aloof" are not entirely new, with former speechwriter Ben Rhoades writing in his 2018 memoir "The World as It Is" that the former president felt the descriptor often came regarding things he had no control over, such as Republicans not wanting to work with him.
Just ahead of the start of his second term, Obama told reporters in January 2013 that he likes "a good party" and is not anti-social.
"With respect to this 'truism' about me not socializing enough and patting folks on the back and all that stuff, most people who know me know I'm a pretty friendly guy," Obama said. "And I like a good party."
The Dovere book has other profanity-laden tales involving the Obamas and Bidens.
First lady Jill Biden was reportedly angered by then-candidate Kamala Harris questioning her husband's record on racial justice and school busing during a June 2019 primary debate. "Go f--- yourself," she reportedly said on a subsequent call with supporters.
According to Dovere, Obama also said privately that the Tea Party consisted of "racist motherf---ers." He also had choice words for his successor, former President Donald Trump, calling him a "corrupt motherf---er," a "madman," a "racist, sexist pig," and a "f---ing lunatic," based on excerpts of the upcoming book.
Dovere's book is set for a May 25 release.