President Joe Biden gave a stern warning to new members of his administration after he was sworn in on Wednesday letting them know that he will fire them “on the spot” if he catches them failing to treat others nicely.
During his swearing-in ceremony, Biden told the new aides, ” If you’re ever working with me, and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot.”
.@JoeBiden, swearing-in some of his appointees, tells them: “If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect – talk down to someone – I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot.”
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) January 20, 2021
He informed the appointees that he really wants to eliminate systemic racism and that failing to maintain his standards of decorum would cost them their jobs effective immediately.
“My dad used to have an expression,” said Biden. “He said everyone, every single person, regardless of their background, is entitled to be treated with dignity. I expect you to do that for all the folks you deal with, all the folks we work for, the American people.”
“No ifs, ands or buts – everybody, everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity,” he added. “That’s been missing in a big way for the last four years.”
This call for strict workplace pleasantness comes after Biden said he would “beat the hell” out of his opponent if they were in high school.
“If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him,” Biden said while campaigning in March 2018.
The statement was in stark contrast to the message of unity Biden mentioned during his inaugural address.
“We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature,” said the president. “For without unity there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.”
