A large portion of 91-year-old Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley's time on Capitol Hill was spent serving alongside President Joe Biden.

Yet despite being around Biden for decades, Grassley recently came clean about being unprepared for how the president would behave in the White House. 

Grassley admits that he was "a little naive"

According to Fox News, Grassley made that acknowledgement during an appearance this week on journalist Miranda Devine's "Pod Force One" podcast.

"I think it’s, if you feel like you know somebody well, it’s hard to believe some of the things that you originally heard, now you kind of know," Grassley told Devine.

"I was a little naive about how I looked at the ‘President Biden’ compared to 'Sen. Biden,'" the longtime GOP lawmaker admitted.

When Devine asked Grassley whether he believed Biden was operating under the control of his staff, the senator gave an unequivocal response.

Grassley "not surprised" by pardon of Hunter Biden

"Yes," Grassley replied. "When you do a thousand commutations and pardons, and you don’t pay any attention to it, you aren’t doing your job."

The senator also weighed in on Biden's decision to pardon his son, stating, "I'm not surprised, but it shouldn’t have been done, and it proves the guilt of Hunter Biden."

Fox News recalled how Grassley was one of many Republicans who reacted with outrage to Hunter Biden's pardon, something which he expressed in a social media post.

I’m shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter bc he said many many times he wouldn’t & I believed him Shame on me

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 2, 2024

"I'm shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter [because] he said many many times he wouldn’t [and] I believed him," Grassley wrote before adding, "Shame on me."

Grassley clashes with Trump over "blue slip" rule

Meanwhile, Fox News pointed out that Grassley has clashed with President Donald Trump over his support of the Senate's "blue slip rule," a tradition which allows senators from a given state to effectively veto the confirmation of U.S. attorneys and federal judges there.

"You know, blue slips make it impossible for me, as president, to appoint a judge or a U.S. attorney because they have a gentleman’s agreement," Fox News quoted Trump as telling reporters on Monday.

"Nothing memorialized. It’s a gentleman’s agreement that’s about 100 years old, where if you have a president, like a Republican, and if you have a Democrat senator, that senator can stop you from appointing a judge or a U.S. attorney, in particular, those two," the president stressed.