EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Jill Biden was right at her husband’s side Saturday as they exited Air Force One to head for a pair of campaign stops at luxurious vacation homes on Long Island. And she got straight to the point when it was her turn to introduce the president at a tony fundraiser.
“Joe isn’t just the right person for the job. He’s the only person for the job,” she declared.
The first lady also told donors, “Anyone can tell you what they want to do, but Joe Biden can tell you what he’s done with his judgment, his experience, and his relationships with leaders across the globe.”
The first lady is trying to rally support for her husband after a devastatingly bad performance in Thursday’s presidential debate created fresh worries about President Joe Biden’s age and his ability to compete in November’s election and to serve another four years.
The community college professor has been by her husband’s side since he exited the debate stage as he faces what could be a defining challenge of his presidency — the president says that democracy itself is on the line in his race against former President Donald Trump, though it’s unclear at all how someone with the central message of fair and legal elections would be a threat to democracy.
Less than 24 hours after her husband’s disastrous debate, she stood before a crowd in Greenwich Village and spoke glowingly about her husband without any nod to the swirling controversy over whether he is up to another term.
Her pitch was less convincing, however, when she humiliatingly spoke to/of her husband in a tone one might use dealing with young children or highly diminished octogenarians.
She was more frank, though, later in the day at a LGBTQ fundraiser in the city, saying of her husband’s debate performance, “I know it’s on your minds.”
“As Joe said earlier today, he’s not a young man,” she allowed. “And you know, after last night’s debate, he said, ‘You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great.’ And I said, ‘Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president.’”
Is Jill Biden cruel to push her husband to continue running for office?
“What my husband does know how to do is tell the truth,“ she said, ignoring the president’s staggering record of plagiarism and academic lies.
“When Joe gets knocked down, Joe gets back up, and that’s what we’re doing today,” she said quite truthfully since Biden has literally fallen to the ground on stage and then had to get back up.
Jill Biden, 73, has long been her husband’s chief confidant and public defender, but her role looms larger this year and is attracting increasing scrutiny from Trump supporters, some of whom question whether she’s the one doing the steering these days.
When the first lady gripped the president’s hand as he left the debate stage on Thursday night after his halting performance, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas reposted the video on X with the question, “Who is the Commander in Chief?”
It’s worth remembering too that had that scene unfolded one week earlier, the unified media talking point would have been that the video was a “cheap fake.” Post-debate, however, the term hasn’t shown back up.
Earlier in the year, when voters were in denial that Biden truly would seek another term, it was Jill Biden who squashed the idea he might not go through with it.
“How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?” the first lady told The Associated Press in a February interview during a trip to Africa. She added, “He says he’s not done. He’s not finished what he’s started. And that’s what’s important.”
The question, though, is just what is he not finishing. If he plans to continue what he started at that debate performance, Democrats can only hope and pray that he won’t finish.
As a native of the Philadelphia area, Jill’s tone has grown increasingly shrill as she has told supporters that Trump has gotten “my Philly up.” But the race with the former president is tight and she told the fundraising gathering on Friday that, “We have to work harder than we’ve ever worked before.” She left out how much harder that work became after Thursday night.
During Friday’s events, she told the LGBTQ+ gatherings that Trump is a “threat” to their rights, though it’s not clear how one of the only GOP presidents to ever wave a pride flag and who appears to be more liberal on gay marriage than any other GOP president in history would be considered a threat.
Last month, the first lady delivered a commencement address to community college students in Arizona, where she talked about ignoring the doubters and pushing forward with their goals.
“The next time someone tells you that you ‘can’t,’ you’re going to say, ‘Oh yeah? Watch me,’” she said.
It was an echo of the words her husband has used on multiple occasions when questioned about his ability to do the job for another four years: “Watch me.” That phrase may be used less, however, moving on from Thursday’s debate.
The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
