Millions watched the June 27, 2024, presidential debate between President Joe Biden and GOP candidate Donald Trump. It was a headline-making flop for Biden. He was seriously off his game that night. His responses to questions were sometimes meandering and unfocused. Biden seemed extremely muddled and just plain out of it.
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It was astonishing to watch the president apparently flailing on a national stage with the stakes so high. No one knew what to think. Now, however, Biden's wife, former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, concedes in a new interview that she feared he was in the midst of a stroke.
Jill Biden Said, "I Was Frightened" Watching Him That Night
In a clip from an interview slated to air on Sunday, May 31, on CBS News Sunday Morning before the Tuesday, June 2, release of her memoir, View from the East Wing, Biden made that stunning statement. She said, "I was frightened, because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never." She went on, "I don't know what happened. As I watched it, I thought, 'Oh, my God, he's having a stroke.' And it scared me to death."
That is a dramatic about-face from what she and White House staffers said at the time. Many of them defended Biden robustly back then. Per the New York Post, Jill Biden accompanied the president to a Waffle House in Atlanta right after the debate debacle. She devotedly shored him up, saying, "Joe - you did such a great job. You answered every question, you knew all the facts."
White House loyalists scrambled to explain Joe Biden's fogginess. Per the outlet, they claimed that he was suffering from a cold, he was jet-lagged, and he was over-prepared for the high-profile joust with Donald Trump.
Someone Who Worked With Jill Biden in the White House Slammed Her Belated Efforts To Flip the Script
Michael LaRosa was Jill Biden's communications director for part of her time in the White House. He shared this scathingly frank assessment with the Post. "Unfortunately, when you wait this long to tell your own story in your own words, it's extremely hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube. She owed it to herself to be candid and transparent in the moment or the days after."
LaRosa added, "The cake is already baked when it comes to shaping public perception about that time and about her. Penning books doesn't cut it anymore."
"A Scandal of Historic Proportions"
Reaction to Jill Biden's admission will likely be harsh and swift. Many tough questions will be asked. There may be outrage. The New York Post editorialized about her role, calling it "a scandal of historic proportions" that she was allegedly aware of how Joe Biden had deteriorated mentally, yet she reportedly urged him "to stay in the race" for another term as president anyway.
