Peter Doocy Is Already Missing Joe Biden

Photo: Charlotte Klein

Fox News’s White House correspondent Peter Doocy comes out of his trailer with a full face of makeup, coat and tie, sneakers on, and slicked-back hair. He’s on his way onto the floor of the United Center for his first TV hit of the night, on colleague Bret Baier’s 6 p.m. show, and even he can’t help to acknowledge the Democratic vibe shift in Chicago.

“I do think people needed an outlet to just be excited about something,” says Doocy, a towering six-foot-five, who has been a consistent thorn in Joe Biden’s side for the past four years. This is the Fox News take on all this Dem joy: Roll their eyes and wait for the sugar high to abate. “At some point they have to do more than just have fun music for every state and talk about who Kamala Harris and Doug are, and how much they miss the Clintons and the Obamas.” Speaking of, what did he think of the Obamas last night? “It was powerful,” says Doocy, opening the door to the United Center. “I’m surprised that now that everybody in the world has a platform to put stuff out on social media, nobody can speak like that.” For “two people who are essentially retired from politics, they had such a command of this crowd.”

We make our way onto the floor, pushing past the crowd, some of whom ask Doocy for a selfie — despite his being in a bubble other than the one he’s usually a star in. But whatever his politics, they still know him. “This particular crowd are probably, per capita, the highest consumers of White House briefings of anywhere I know in America.”

He’s not immune to the DNC star power. He’s hoping Beyoncé will show up. “She was actually part of the first concert I ever went to,” Doocy says. “The Doocys all went to Jones Beach to see Christina Aguilera and the opener was Destiny’s Child.” Eventually we make our way to the back of the floor where, as we wait for the camera crew, Doocy reflects on the state of the race. Does he think Harris was the right choice? “Based on this week here, yes, but when I was here for the Biden walkthrough, and just the amount that I had gotten to know him over the last five years — when I saw him looking out at all of this, it definitely seemed like he was thinking, Am I doing the right thing?” he says. “He didn’t look happy.” Another big Fox News talking point: their supposed sympathy for the proud old man, kicked to the curb. People keep walking by Doocy, into the staff hallway, and he greets them with hey-how-are-yous. “I’m helping the DNC,” he jokes. “Bathrooms are to the right.”

Doocy’s interactions with this administration have been sparky. One of his more memorable exchanges with the president came during the now-infamous press conference that Biden gave following former special counsel Robert Hur’s report. “How bad is your memory, and can you continue as president?” Doocy asked Biden. “My memory is so bad that I let you speak,” Biden responded. “I thought he had a quick-witted response to me, but ultimately that was the beginning of the end,” Doocy told me. Will he miss him? “Yes. I really will,” Doocy says. “I don’t think it took long for them to know exactly what to expect from me. They knew I was always going to ask him something hard and he continued to engage for years after that and his team did, too,” he continues, “and so yes, I will miss him.”

TV time. Doocy makes his way through the crowd yet again, passing by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who is making her way to her own hit. A delegate from Delaware greets Doocy while noting the flack he’s getting from his crew: “The Delaware delegation is looking at me saying, don’t talk to him!” Doocy says, laughing, as he finds a spot for his shot.

Three, two. Doocy begins. “As the DNC goes on, there is less and less talk about President Joe Biden …”