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Roger Ailes, president of Fox News Channel, is the subject of a new biography in which he's quoted as saying President Obama is "lazy."

Fox News chief Roger Ailes doesn't mince words in a new biography: President Obama is "lazy" and Vice President Joe Biden is "dumb as an ashtray."

But it's not just Democrats who get withering reviews from the conservative media icon. Ailes suggests that Sen. Marco Rubio is too soft and Newt Gingrich is a "sore loser" and an unprintable reference to male anatomy.

The blunt characterizations appear in Vanity Fair's adapted excerpt of "Roger Ailes: Off Camera," by Zev Chafets. Ailes cooperated with the book, which will be published March 19.

Michael Reynolds / EPA

Fox News chief Roger Ailes is quoted in a new biography as saying he likes Joe Biden but thinks the vice president is "dumb as an ashtray."

The comment about Obama was reportedly made during last year's presidential primary season as Ailes was briefed about Democratic operative Hilary Rosen's remark that Ann Romney had never worked a day in her life.

“Obama’s the one who never worked a day in his life. He never earned a penny that wasn’t public money. How many fund-raisers does he attend every week? How often does he play basketball and golf? I wish I had that kind of time," Ailes said, according to the excerpt.

"He’s lazy, but the media won’t report that,” he said, then added that Obama had admitted being lazy in an interview with Barbara Walters.

In a 2011 interview with Walters, Obama said, "There is a deep down, underneath all the work I do, I think there’s a laziness in me," adding, "It’s probably from, you know, growing up in Hawaii, and it’s sunny outside and sitting on the beach.’”

During the briefing on Rosen, Ailes also was told that Gingrich -- a former Fox commentator -- complained the network's support for Mitt Romney had hurt his chances.

"Brush him back," Ailes told his spokesman, according to Vanity Fair. "He's a sore loser and if he had won, he would have been a sore winner." Then he followed up with an off-color five-letter insult.

At a Fox Latino staff meeting, Ailes revealed he liked Rubio but didn't know if he was vice-presidential material.

"He's a nice guy and that role requires kicking the crap out of your opponents," he said.

"I have a soft spot for Joe Biden," he added. "I like him. But he's dumb as an ashtray."

Asked whether Ailes stands by the remarks, Fox News issued a statement: "Vanity Fair excerpts a fraction of a 272-page book so it would be impractical to comment without having read the entire body of work in context.”

The book says Ailes, 72, revels in his role as a free-wheeling tough guy but also has a fatalistic streak and think's he'll be dead within a decade.

Chafets wrote that he asked Ailes what he thinks heaven will be like.

“I’m pretty sure that God’s got a sense of humor,” he said. “I think he gets a laugh out of me from time to time, so I suppose things will be all right.”

Asked what would happen if God was a liberal, Ailes replied, “Well, hell, if God’s a liberal, that’s his business...But I doubt very much that he is. He’s got a good heart.” 

Updated 2:56 p.m. -- President Barack Obama unveiled sweeping new policies Wednesday aimed at limiting gun violence, teeing up a political showdown that will pit the broad public popularity for many gun control measures against Congress’s tepid appetite for approving the most stringent restrictions on gun ownership.  

"While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil," Obama said at a mid-day announcement at the White House, "if there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try it."

Acknowledging the difficulty of the Congressional fight ahead, Obama appealed for public support, slamming - as he did in a press conference earlier this week - conservative commentators and the most vocal pro-gun activists for "ginning up" opposition to gun reforms for political reasons. 

"I will put everything I've got into this and so will Joe [Biden], but I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it," he said. 

Some of the main legislative proposals backed by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are:

• requiring criminal background checks on all gun sales, including private sales    
• banning "military-style" assault weapons    
• limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds      
• strengthening penalties for gun trafficking 

"The most important changes we can make depend on Congressional action," Obama said. "They need to bring these proposals up for a vote and the American people need to make sure that they do."

Related Information: Gun Violence Fact Sheet | Gun Violence Executive Summary | Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions 

The president also signed a series of 23 executive actions - free from a Congressional blockade -- intended to strengthen existing laws, augment mental health measures and promote federal research on gun crime through the Centers for Disease Control. 

The executive actions announced included stricter prosecution of would-be gun buyers who fail background checks as well as new requirements for federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. 
 

The president's recommendations also direct administration officials to "clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes" and to "release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities." 

Obama and Biden were joined at the White House event by families of the Newtown school shooting victims as well as by four children who wrote the president after the tragedy that left 20 young students dead. 

"This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe," Obama said at the beginning of his remarks. "This is how we will be judged, and their voices should compel us to change."

Biden, who led the presidential task-force on gun safety in the wake of the Newtown shootings, praised the activists who met with his staff over the last week to help build the list of recommendations. 

"The world has changed and it's demanding action," Biden said. 

While some of Obama's long-expected proposals - like universal background checks - garner overwhelming public support, the outlawing of certain types of weapons may be less of a slam dunk for lawmakers eager to appease constituents. 

A recent poll from the Pew Research Center showed that a majority of Americans -- 55 percent -- back a ban on "assault-style weapons," with 40 percent saying they don't approve of a ban. But a partisan breakdown shows that only about four in ten Republicans support such restrictions, compared to a broad majority of Democrats. 

Democrats in Congress have already voiced doubts about the feasibility of the president's most ambitious proposals. 

"We're not going to get an outright ban" on assault weapons, Democrat Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York bluntly said yesterday.

 "[Senate Majority Leader] Reid has said he doesn't know whether he has the votes (for an assault weapons ban)," she added. "There's heavy lifting, so are we going to waste time on heavy lifting? Or are we going to try to work on doing something that could actually get passed?"

Related: Obama's gun plans spark little enthusiasm with key lawmakers

Supporters are more optimistic about background checks and magazine restrictions. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced Wednesday that his panel will hold its first hearing on issues relating to gun violence on Jan. 30.

In his remarks Wednesday, Obama anticipated opponents' reactions to his proposals. 

"This will be difficult," he said. "There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty. Not because that's true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves, and behind the scenes they will do everything they can to block any commonsense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever."

The National Rifle Association, the country's most powerful gun lobby, released a statement Wednesday afternoon in response to the president's remarks.

"We look forward to working with Congress on a bi-partisan basis to find real solutions to protecting America's most valuable asset - our children. Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation," the NRA wrote. "Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy."

That statement was relatively muted in comparison to the group's controversial ad released Tuesday night, which criticized Obama's dismissal of the gun lobby's proposal to increase armed security in schools. 

"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" a narrator asks in the short ad. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security."

Related: White House calls NRA 'repugnant,' 'cowardly' for invoking president's children in ad

The ad prompted outcry from observers who said the First Family should be off limits for such advertisements, while NRA backers say their focus is on school safety rather than on the president's daughters themselves. 

"Whoever thinks the ad is about President Obama's daughters are missing the point completely or they're trying to change the subject," said spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. "This ad is about keeping our children safe. And the president said he was skeptical about the NRA proposal to put policemen in all schools in this country. Yet he and his family are beneficiaries of multiple law enforcement officers surrounding them 24 hours a day." 

White House spokesman Jay Carney shot back that the ad is "cowardly." 

"Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight," he said. "But to go so far as to make the safety of the President's children the subject of an attack ad  is repugnant and cowardly."

NBC's Mark Murray, Frank Thorp, Ali Weinberg and Kelly O'Donnell contributed to this report.

Updated 4:10 p.m. -- The National Rifle Association on Thursday said it was 'disappointed' with the results of a meeting with the gun violence prevention task force led by Vice President Joe Biden.  

"We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment," the NRA wrote in a statement after a closed-door meeting with administration officials and other gun groups. "While claiming that no policy proposals would be 'prejudged,' this Task Force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners - honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans."

Biden is expected to offer the task force's recommendations to the president by Tuesday.

The vice president, charged to lead a series of gun reform meetings in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, said earlier on Thursday that other stakeholder groups have expressed "surprising" support for universal background checks, as well as some restrictions on high-capacity magazines.

"There is a surprising -- so far -- recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks, not just [to] close the gun show loophole, but total, universal background checks, including private sales," Biden said.

But those comments came before Biden's meeting with the country's most powerful gun lobby and vocal foe of restrictions on gun ownership.

"We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen," the NRA wrote afterwards. "Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of Congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works - and what does not." 

National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre caused controversy after the Newton killings for saying that the only way to prevent such events is the presence of armed security officers at every school.

"The only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection," he said. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." 

 The outdoor enthusiasts who met earlier Thursday with the vice president included members of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Ducks Unlimited, and the Outdoor Industry Association; the entertainment industry participants, slated for a 6 p.m. ET meeting, include representatives from the Motion Picture Association of America, Comcast, and the Directors Guild.

Megastore Wal-Mart will also participated in a Thursday meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder this afternoon, along with other retailers like Bass Pro Shops and Dick's Sporting Goods. Wal-Mart agreed to send a representative to the session after public criticism of the store's initial 'no' RSVP to the White House invitation.

Biden raised some conservatives' eyebrows yesterday when he said that the administration is considering possible executive action in addition to legislative solutions.

"The president is going to act," he said during a session with gun control groups Wednesday. "There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said later Wednesday that no decisions have been made about avenues for implementation of possible reforms.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

President Obama spoke Sunday morning at a campaign event in Concord, N.H.

Updated 1:30 a.m. ET With the hours quickly running out before voters render their verdict, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigned Sunday night in Pennsylvania, an eleventh-hour foray into a state that no GOP nominee has won since 1988.

Speaking to a chilled crowd in in Bucks County, a county which President Barack Obama carried in 2008 with 54 percent of the vote, Romney said, “We’re only two days away from a fresh start. Two days away from the first day of a new beginning.”

As he has for several stops in the last two days, Romney alluded at his Bucks County event to Obama’s comment on Friday that “voting’s the best revenge,” by saying, “In his closing argument, this is last week, President Obama asked his supporters to vote for revenge. For revenge. Instead, I ask the American people to vote for love of country."

He added, “He’s hoping we’ll settle. Americans don’t settle. We build, we aspire, we dream, we listen to that voice which says ‘we can do better’!”

Romney suggested to the crowd that they “reach across the street to that neighbor with the other guy’s yard sign. And we’ll reach across the aisle in Washington to people of good faith in the other party.”

In a sign of hope for Romney, Obama’s once-wide lead in the state appears to be slipping.

A new Allentown Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll Sunday showed Obama only 3 percentage points ahead of Romney, 49 percent to 46 percent. Another recent Pennsylvania survey, the Franklin & Marshall College poll, had Romney trailing Obama by only 4 percentage points among likely voters.

A Romney victory in the Keystone state, which has 20 electoral votes, would be one of the campaign’s biggest surprises.

Asked by a reporter Sunday whether it was a little too late for Romney to invest time campaigning in Pennsylvania, Romney senior advisor Kevin Madden said, "No, because this is one of those states that came into view right after the first debate. And as a result it just presented a great opportunity…. And here you are with an incumbent president under 50 (percent in polling). We're essentially tied. We're over-performing in many of these critical areas of the state, like the Philadelphia suburbs, areas like Scranton, southwest Pennsylvania. So we see it as a great opportunity and traveling there today we think can help make a difference. And this is actually the perfect time given that you're 48 hours from people making a decision, given that that they don't have early voting there.”

In addition to his Pennsylvania stop, Romney campaigned in Virginia, Florida, Des Moines, Iowa and Cleveland, Ohio.

After campaigning with former president Bill Clinton in New Hampshire Sunday morning, Obama touched down in Florida Sunday afternoon, then headed to Ohio for an evening rally, then to Colorado for a late appearance.

Romney reached out Sunday for the votes of independents who may be disenchanted with Obama, telling a crowd in Cleveland, “He promised to do so very much, but frankly he fell so very short.  He promised to be a post-partisan president, but he’s been most partisan, he’s been divisive, blaming, attacking, dividing.  And by the way, it’s not only Republicans that he refused to listen too, he also refused to listen to independent voices.”

Later in his speech Romney added another pitch to independents in Ohio: “Now so many of you look at the big debates in this country, and you don’t look at them as a Republican or as a Democrat, but first as an American….  You hoped that President Obama would live up to his promise to bring people together to solve big problems, but he hasn’t.  And I will.” 

Two hours earlier, only eight miles away from the Romney event, Vice President Joe Biden campaigned in Lakewood, Ohio, accusing Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin of playing "a con game" in the waning days of the campaign. "They're running away from what they believe." 

He appealed to Democrats to get out the vote in the state that decided the 2004 election and whose 18 electoral votes might well decide the election: “We need you Ohio. We need you. We win Ohio, we win this election.”

In a NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Saturday, Romney was trailing Obama in Ohio 51 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, including those who were undecided yet leaning toward a candidate and those who voted early. The survey found that 3 percent were undecided.

Ryan was also campaigning Sunday in Ohio with a stop in Mansfield. As his first event Sunday Ryan, dressed in a Green Bay Packers jacket, arrived at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., to attend a tailgate party. Green Bay has ranked among the nation’s top presidential campaign TV ad media markets in recent weeks.

Meanwhile Obama opened his day by rallying Democrats in the small but vital battleground of New Hampshire which has only four electoral votes of the 270 needed to win the presidency. George W. Bush carried the state in 2000 but Democrat John Kerry won it in 2004 and Obama won it in 2008.

“Just as we did when Bill Clinton was president, we gotta ask the wealthiest to pay a little bit more so we can reduce the deficit and still invest in the things we need to grow,” Obama told a crowd in Concord, N.H.

The president told the crowd that on Saturday night he had consulted with his campaign advisers.

“I looked at David Plouffe, some of you know he’s my big campaign poo-bah smart guy. But Plouffe and I looked at each other and we said, ‘You know what. We’re no longer relevant. We’re props. Because what’s happened is that now the campaign falls on these 25-year old kids who are out there knocking on doors, making phone calls, and then we realized, you know, pretty soon after they do their jobs then they’re not relevant either because it’s now up to you.”

Romney will hold his final rally of the campaign Monday night in Manchester, N.H., underscoring again the significance of its four electoral votes.

In his first event Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa, Romney reminded his supporters how vital Iowa is to his campaign strategy: “I need Iowa – I need Iowa so we can win the White House and take back America, keep it strong, make sure we always remain the hope of the earth. I’m counting on you. Will you get the job done?”

A Des Moines Register Iowa poll released Sunday showed Romney trailing Obama 47 percent to 42 percent.

NBC News’s Carrie Dann, Garrett Haake and Ali Weinberg contributed to this story 

Vice President Joe Biden came out swinging against his Republican opponent, Paul Ryan, in Thursday’s lone vice presidential debate with a readily evident determination to avoid repeating President Barack Obama’s laconic performance in last week’s presidential debate.

Biden went at Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman who agreed to serve as GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s running mate two months ago, from the very outset of a freewheeling debate in Danville, Ky., that saw the two candidates bicker frequently and differ sharply on policy and politics alike. 

Poll: Did the vice presidential debate influence who you will support in the election?

The vice president threw up his arms, laughed, scoffed and rolled his eyes in reaction to Ryan’s attacks – an unabashedly reaction to what Biden frequently called “malarkey” offered up by the House Budget Committee chairman in his opinion. 

The debate featured many of the fireworks that last Thursday’s initial debate between Obama and Romney had lacked. While Ryan stuck to familiar talking points used often by Romney on the stump, the vice presidential nominee hardly shrunk from engaging with Biden but largely engaging the vice president’s bombast. 

Related: Truth Squad: The vice presidential debate

The 90-minute affair at Centre College saw both Biden and Ryan playing to type. Biden was emotional and folksy but could barely contain his reactions to his opponent. Ryan maintained a more earnest demeanor, and often turned to statistics and anecdotes to make his case as the discussion shifted from events in Libya to Medicare and abortion. 

Biden’s response to Ryan’s proposals to reform Medicare into a “premium support” or voucher system was a typical refrain for the vice president: “Folks, use your common sense: who do you trust on this?” 

Ryan stuck largely to familiar and well-studied talking points used often by Romney and the GOP ticket on the campaign trail, but showed no interest in shrinking from the vice president’s bombast. The congressman stuck to his expertise as a budget wunderkind to explain reforms to entitlements and taxes and balancing the budget.  

Biden has been a frequent critic on the campaign trail of Ryan’s two budgets for their proposed changes to Medicare. The most recent version of the proposal would offer seniors a rebate to buy insurance on the private market, or opt into a Medicare program as it’s more traditionally known. 

“A voucher is you go to your mailbox, get a check, and buy something. Nobody's proposing that. Barack Obama four years ago running for president said if you don't have any fresh ideas, use stale tactics to scare voters,” Ryan said. “If you don't have a good record to run on, paint your opponent as someone people should run from – make a big election about small ideas.” 

Biden’s determination to be the aggressor shone through the debate, though, to his exchange with Ryan on the topic of taxes. As Ryan cited tax cuts sought by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, Biden seemingly attempted to channel the famous Lloyd Bensten line used against Dan Quayle by quipping, “Oh, now you're Jack Kennedy?” 

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan shake hands at the conclusion of the vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky.

The vice presidential debate set the stage for the two remaining contests between Obama and Romney left before Election Day. The first of those debates is on Tuesday, where Obama will hope to channel the energy displayed by his vice president this evening. 

Ryan, meanwhile, will join Romney for a joint rally on Friday in the all-important swing state of Ohio, where both men have concentrated much of their efforts lately in a bow toward the state’s central role in charting a path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.