The war of words between President Biden and Facebook is escalating-the social media giant claims that the platform has become the "scapegoat" for the failure of the Biden administration's pandemic.

""The White House is looking for a scapegoat for failing to achieve the vaccine goal," an anonymous executive told NBC News reporter Dylan Byers on Friday..

The angry riposte came shortly after Biden accused Facebook of insufficiently censoring anti-vaccine posts.

"They're killing people," Biden told reporters Friday afternoon, when asked about his message for the company. "The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people."

Biden's charge came as White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is "in regular touch" with Facebook regarding efforts to promote its preferred "narratives" on COVID-19.

Passaki admitted on Thursday that the White House was "marking problematic posts" for review by Facebook, which caused an uproar among the defenders of the First Amendment, and this explanation was further expanded.

Facebook on Friday issued a measured official statement on Biden's harsh rebuke, saying that they "aren't supported by the facts."

But behind the scenes, execs at the administration's longtime ally seemed to be seething.

"In private exchanges the Surgeon General has praised our work, including our efforts to inform people about COVID-19," the unnamed insider told Byers. "They knew what they were doing."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is "in regular touch" with Facebook regarding efforts to promote its preferred "narratives" on COVID-19.
REUTERS