Joe Biden’s dog is out of control

00:00 04:34

Toby Young has narrated this article for you to listen to.

I was shocked to read about the behaviour of Joe Biden’s dog, Commander. According to a CNN report based on freedom of information requests, he bit US Secret Service agents on 24 separate occasions between October 2022 and July 2023. There were also numerous other incidents involving the White House staff. These were not playful nips, either. The agents reported being bitten on the wrist, forearm, elbow, waist, chest, thigh and shoulder, with at least two bites requiring stitches.

On one occasion, an agent was bitten so badly that tours of the White House had to be suspended for 20 minutes while a janitor mopped up the blood. During his convalescence, the victim was given a care package by his colleagues that included painkillers, antibiotic ointment, pepper spray, a muzzle and dog biscuits ‘for safety purposes’.

A source close to the Bidens told CNN that the family feels ‘awful’ and ‘heartbroken’ about Commander’s behaviour, although you have to question how sincere they are, given that the German shepherd was allowed to prowl the corridors of the West Wing, unmuzzled, biting a member of the President’s Secret Service detail every fortnight for the best part of a year. Had Commander been a civilian dog, one of his victims would have sued the Bidens by now and a judge probably would have ordered him to be put down. But taking the President to court would be frowned upon in the Secret Service, so Commander continues to roam free, although mercifully he’s no longer in the White House.

I can’t help contrasting the fate of the Bidens’ dog with Leo, the Hungarian vizsla the Young family used to own.