Ex-Biden aide dubbed 'Baghdad Bob' reemerges with Jill Biden spat, new gig

A former Biden White House aide, who has been slammed by conservatives online for years for his aggressive defense of then-President Joe Biden's mental and physical fitness, has reemerged into the news cycle over the last couple of weeks for speaking out against former First Lady Jill Biden's comments during her book tour and joining the communications staff for Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

Andrew Bates, who currently serves as the managing director of Orchestra's public relations advisory service where he often uses his X account to fire back against GOP messaging and the Trump administration, promotes himself as a "seasoned communications strategist" with a "reputation for tenacity and an ability to navigate complex challenges with precision," according to the website of his WolfPack Strategies advisory firm that he launched during the first week of the Trump administration last year.

While Bates was often praised by some of his colleagues as one of the most "loyal" defenders of the Bidens during his administration, Jill Biden recently lashed out at him when pressed on a quote he gave to The New York Post about her book tour.

"We had a duty to win and we didn’t," Bates said, referring to Biden's disastrous 2024 debate and him dropping out. "I think about that all the time. But I don’t see why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now."

When pressed on the quote, the former first lady told a reporter, "I want to say to Andrew: Call me up, and say it to my face, buddy." While they appeared to have made up in a phone call shortly afterward, social media erupted with conservatives and Democrats weighing in on the exchange, including Tommy Vietor, a former National Security Council staffer for then-President Barack Obama.

"No one was more loyal to the Biden family and fought harder for them than Andrew Bates. Sh---- to see that loyalty was a one-way street," Vietor wrote in a post, scolding the former first lady.

"The former First Lady would still be known as the former Second Lady without Andrew Bates," a source told Axios reporter Alex Thompson, referring to the Bidens’ role in the Obama administration.

"Just a whole lot I could say about this, but I will leave it at being so, unbelievably disappointed," former top Biden White House aide Rob Flaherty said. However, Jill Biden's former spokesperson Michael LaRosa ripped Bates on X, saying, "He is one of the LEAST sympathetic former Biden staffers, a notorious liar, stonewaller and gaslighter."

"This is who the Bidens are. Andrew Bates KILLED himself for the Bidens to the point of damaging his own reputation and appearing at times like a Baghdad Bob," journalist Yashar Ali said, referring to Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who was notorious for pushing propaganda and giving false statements to the media.

Conservatives also weighed in, with many taking shots at the former first lady, including Targeted Victory's chief communications officer Matt Gorman, who said, "The Bidens are pathetic, self-serving, and loyal only unto themselves."

"Jill Biden vs Andrew Bates is the fight we've all been waiting for," Sen. Bernie Moreno's, R-Ohio, chief of staff Philip Letsou posted on X. 

Newsbusters news analyst Jorge Bonilla said, "Not the first loyal comms person the Bidens throw under the bus."

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Bates' reemergence isn't just limited to the viral spat that took off on social media.

News that Bates had joined Gallego's team as a communications advisor broke earlier this week in an Axios report following revelations earlier this year that Gallego, who would later distance himself from disgraced gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell and denied knowledge of his sexual misconduct, had a close personal friendship with him for over a decade.

Swalwell abandoned his campaign — and ultimately resigned his seat in mid-April — when testimony from several women surfaced chronicling instances of sexual misconduct and alleged abuse. 

Gallego's communications director, Jacques Petit, told Fox News Digital that the Arizona senator hired Bates because Gallego has been planning "to help Democrats take the majority in 2026 and is weighing all options for his political future" and that he "brought on Andrew to help navigate those processes."

However, a number of onlookers online haven't seen it that way. The hire, which occurred in late April, quickly drew accusations that Bates had been brought on to mask more political liabilities ahead of Gallego's potential presidential campaign — just as he had helped navigate Biden's cognitive decline and helped push the narrative that the videos of Biden walking around confused were "cheapfakes."

Bates, who became a punching bag for many Trump campaign operatives and would often spar with them on social media, went viral a couple of weeks after the disastrous June 2024 debate performance that many believe was the beginning of the end of Biden's presidential campaign. The X post, which amassed over 5 million views, was widely mocked and has resurfaced several times.

"To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs," Bates said. "He’s just that fu----- good."

The X post came during a critical press conference two weeks after the disastrous debate performance. Less than two weeks later, Biden announced he was dropping out of the race.

The campaign account for Kari Lake, a former challenger for Gallego's Senate seat, ripped Bates and Gallego in a post.

"You don’t hire a political fixer and Biden regime hatchet man like Andrew Bates unless the walls are closing in and the skeletons are about to tumble out of the closet. Rotten Ruben Gallego is VERY worried," the account wrote.

"He's the lawyer you hire when everyone already knows you're guilty," Jim Geraghty, a political commentator, wrote in a post to social media. 

"Who is the most expensive, least talented person we can find to make sure I don't get Swallwell'd? Is Ian Sams available? Okay, how about Andrew Bates?" Brent Scher, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire wrote in a post to X, referring to another former White House political operative.