Former President Obama and President Biden. (Getty Images)
The intense blowback from the comment led to an apology from Biden, and Obama telling reporters, "I have no problem with Joe Biden."
Biden eventually dropped out of the race after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses, but was subsequently picked by Obama to be his running mate. The two ultimately defeated Republican nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin.
The first few months of their administration reportedly saw frequent disagreements between the two, including a clash over Obama publicly diminishing Biden while speaking to reporters — which he later agreed with an upset Biden to avoid doing — and eye rolls from the former while the latter spoke during meetings.
Biden was reportedly frustrated with Obama's cautious decision-making process, and disagreed with him on a number of issues, including sending more troops to Afghanistan at the request of military leadership.
Despite the disagreements, the two eventually developed a close partnership, and even friendship, before Obama reportedly dismissed a suggestion by close advisers to replace Biden in the 2012 re-election campaign with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
GROWING LIST OF OBAMA ALLIES, FORMER ADVISERS LOOK TO SINK BIDEN RE-ELECTION BID
This White House handout photo shows President Obama and Vice President Biden in the Oval Office of the White House during the President's Daily Economic Briefing on July 30, 2009. (Pete Souza/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden has often compared himself to Obama throughout his presidency, even to the point of frequently using the phrase, "Obama would be jealous," when talking about an accomplishment, according to a report from Axios earlier this year.
Biden's disappointing showing in the first presidential debate last month drove many former Obama advisers and allies to call for his exit from the race, despite the former president initially defending him. Those calls included former adviser Jon Favreau, widely known as one of the "Obama bros" during his time at the White House.
Favreau, who attended the same Los Angeles fundraiser that actor George Clooney referenced in his damaging New York Times guest essay calling on Biden to drop out of the presidential race, said during an appearance on CNN earlier this week that "Clooney was exactly right."
Clooney wrote in his guest essay that the Biden who showed up at the fundraiser was "not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
Ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod has also repeatedly criticized Biden, saying Friday while appearing on CNN that Biden "really needs a royal flush to win this race" against former President Trump.
"There are certain immutable facts of life," Axelrod said in a separate CNN interview while discussing Biden's age and leadership. "Those were painfully obvious on that debate stage. The president just … hasn't come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race."
From left: former Obama adviser Jon Favreau, President Biden and actor George Clooney. (Getty Images)
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Reports have also surfaced that Obama has been working "behind the scenes" to force Biden out of the race. Multiple media outlets reported Thursday morning on Obama's alleged efforts, including Politico, which stated that the former president had been given a "heads-up" by Clooney about his guest essay.
A source close to Obama declined to comment on the reports but pointed Fox News Digital to the former president's statements in support of Biden, both at the Los Angeles fundraiser that became the subject of Clooney's op-ed and following the debate.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday responded to a recent claim by Trump that Obama "never respected" Biden throughout their time in office. She said Biden and Obama have "a close relationship," but couldn't speak to the details of any recent call or conversation between the two.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on X at @BGillespieAL.
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