Photos obtained by the Daily Mail depict President Biden’s German shepherd Commander, biting a longstanding White House staffer, challenging an anonymous White House assertion that Commander only targets Secret Service personnel.
A tourist captured an image of the president’s dog biting the arm of White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney on September 13. Reports from the Daily Mail indicate that Haney, often seen walking Commander, was interacting with the dog when the canine appeared to bite the staffer, though it is unclear whether the bite was aggressive or playful.
EXCLUSIVE: President Joe Biden's German Shepherd Commander is seen biting White House staffer, days before it bit Secret Service agent, in new photos https://t.co/uu1gYWHjVx pic.twitter.com/uZVlVKXMOD
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) October 4, 2023
“Commander Biden biting a staffer again. How many times has that dog bitten the Bidens?” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy inquired during a press briefing.
“Refer to the Secret Service,” Karine Jean-Pierre responded, avoiding a direct answer.
Doocy further highlighted that Commander allegedly bit at least 12 White House staffers. Jean-Pierre once again directed him to the Secret Service or the first lady’s office, declining to provide additional comments.
Contrary to claims by anonymous White House staffers to Politico that Commander is typically amiable and unfamiliar with such behavior around non-security staff, recent photographs seem to challenge this narrative. Past reports from the New York Post in July detailed that Commander had bitten seven Secret Service members and displayed aggression towards three others since October 2022.
Documents obtained by a legal watchdog group shed light on some of these incidents. One particularly severe case involved a Secret Service agent who had to be briefly hospitalized due to injuries on their arms and thigh from Commander’s bites. Another incident revealed that Commander, left unleashed outside the White House after a family movie night, bit and caused bleeding to another Secret Service agent. Subsequently, he bit a security technician’s back outside Biden’s Delaware residence.
“The First Family continues to work on ways to help Commander handle the often-unpredictable nature of the White House grounds,” the office of First Lady Jill Biden communicated to the Daily Mail when approached for a statement.
The Bidens had previously faced a similar situation with another German shepherd, Major. Major had bitten a Secret Service agent and other White House staff during President Biden’s initial year in office. Consequently, Major was relocated to reside with family acquaintances, as confirmed by a White House representative.
