Jill Biden revealed that during the presidential debate in June 2024, she came to think that her husband, then-Democratic President Joe Biden, was suffering a stroke, a confession that once again placed the criticisms regarding the physical and mental deterioration of the former president at the center of attention and about the handling of his health status by the White House during the reelection campaign.
The statements were made in an interview with CBS News that will be aired in full next Sunday, just days before the publication of Jill Biden's memoirs, titled ''Views from the East Wing''. In the preview released by the network, the former first lady described the fear she felt while watching her husband's poor performance in the debate against Donald Trump, held on June 27, 2024.
''I was scared because I had never seen Joe like that before or since,'' Jill Biden stated. ''As I watched him, I thought: 'Oh my God, he is having a stroke'. And it scared me a lot.''
The presidential debate became one of the most damaging episodes of Biden's political career and the turning point that ultimately accelerated his exit from the electoral contest. During the televised exchange, the then-president appeared disoriented at several moments, lost the thread of some answers, spoke with difficulty, and remained frozen in front of the cameras. The performance generated shock among Democratic leaders, media, and millions of voters who were already questioning his ability to face a second term at the age of 81.
Joe Biden's wife claimed that she thought her husband was having a stroke during the 2024 debate.
However, immediately after the debate, Jill Biden publicly came to her husband's defense and sought to minimize the political impact of the performance. That same night, she accompanied the president to a Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta, where she praised his performance in front of concerned supporters.
''Joe, you did a great job. You answered all the questions and knew all the facts,'' the former first lady said at that time, in a statement that was widely circulated and criticized by opponents and sectors of the Democratic Party itself.
In the following days, the White House tried to contain the political damage by offering various explanations about the president's condition. First, they attributed the performance to a cold. Later, they pointed to exhaustion from an international trip taken weeks earlier and then argued that Biden had prepared too intensely for the debate and ended up confusing data and answers.
After the debate, Jill Biden sought to downplay the events, applying a crude defense of the then Democratic president.
The justifications did not manage to stop the growing concern within the Democratic Party. Leaders, donors, and strategists began to openly pressure for Biden to drop out of the presidential race out of fear of a historic defeat against Trump. Finally, on July 21, 2024, the then-president announced his withdrawal from the campaign and endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate.
Biden's exit left deep internal divisions in the party and fueled accusations that the White House had concealed the extent of the president's deterioration for months. Jill Biden's new statements reactivated precisely those criticisms, especially since throughout the campaign she was one of the strongest voices defending her husband's physical and cognitive abilities.
Michael LaRosa, former communications director for the former first lady, argued that the sincerity shown now comes too late. ''When you wait so long to tell your own version, it is already impossible to change public perception,'' he declared to the New York Post. He stated that Jill Biden should have been transparent from the beginning about the difficulties the president was facing.
The former communications chief of Jill Biden stated that the sincerity shown by the former first lady came too late.
Other former Democratic officials were even harsher and questioned the political role that Jill Biden would have assumed within the White House as signs of presidential wear increased. A former collaborator joked that the memoirs should be titled ''View from the East Wing, with Blindfolded Eyes,'' implying that the former first lady deliberately ignored the gravity of the situation.
Biden's health had been a topic of debate since April 2023, when he announced he would seek reelection. His age, stumbles at public events, and occasional difficulties in expressing himself fueled constant doubts among voters and political leaders. Despite this, Jill Biden repeatedly insisted that the president was prepared to continue in office and ''finish the job.''
Behind the scenes, however, former officials claimed that the former first lady was increasingly intervening in the presidential agenda and pushing to reduce Biden's public activities and extend his rest periods. The former White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients, testified before a congressional committee that Jill Biden played a key role in the president's daily organization during the last months of his term.
After withdrawing from the presidential race, Biden actively supported Harris, although the Democratic candidate ultimately lost the election to Trump in a resounding defeat both in the Electoral College and in the popular vote, something that had not happened to the Democratic Party in two decades.
After Biden dropped out of the elections, Donald Trump achieved a crucial victory against Kamala Harris.
