Jill Biden was deeply worried her husband might be experiencing a stroke during a live debate with Donald Trump, a pivotal event that contributed to the unraveling of his re-election campaign.
“I was terrified because I had never seen Joe in that condition before or at any time since,” the former First Lady revealed in an interview with CBS News.
During the notorious debate in June 2024, Biden appeared weak and struggled with his speech, prompting growing concerns among Democrats about his ability to lead.
“I was at a loss,” Jill Biden continued. “Watching him, I feared, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ It was truly frightening.”
Just weeks after this troubling display, the 83-year-old Biden withdrew from the presidential race. Following his departure from office, he was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer that had metastasized to his bones.
Biden’s withdrawal marked the first time a sitting president opted out of a re-election campaign since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
Jill’s stunning admission to CBS News comes just days before the release of her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir.
The First Lady was widely seen as one of his closest confidantes and a driving force behind his 2024 reelection bid. She was among the fiercest advocates for him staying in the race after the woeful debate showing and reportedly had a tense relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris.
‘I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,’ the former First Lady told CBS News
His age and inability to communicate effectively sparked widespread health fears for Biden
Biden famously appeared frail and stumbled over his words during his infamous June 2024 debate against Trump
Biden faced widespread criticism at the time for not stepping aside sooner, once it became clear he was not capable of running for a second term.
When he finally withdrew, Biden endorsed Harris on the spot, effectively shutting the door on an open Democratic primary.
Last week, a bombshell Democratic Party autopsy underlined how Jill was prioritized over Harris by the White House during the 2024 election.
The report states Biden’s White House lavished polling and strategy on Jill, while leaving Harris so neglected that aides had no research prepared when she was thrust onto the ticket.
The 192-page dossier commissioned by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) wrote that the Biden White House ordered extensive polling on the settings, issues, and messaging Dr Jill should use to support her husband’s presidency.
However, no equivalent research was ever commissioned for Harris, leaving pollsters scrambling to get three emergency studies into the field the moment Biden stepped aside in July 2024.
The author, veteran Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, brands the failure a ‘massive missed opportunity’ and concludes the White House never positioned or prepared its own Vice President to face Trump.
‘As a result, at the moment of the candidate switch the polling team discovered there was no self-research on the Vice President to guide the development of the research instruments,’ Rivera wrote.
Jill’s stunning admission to CBS News comes just days before the release of her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir
Kamala Harris and Jill Biden had a tense relationship in the White House
‘An incumbent Vice President. With no research to share once she became the nominee.’
‘Had the White House explored and evaluated ways to leverage Kamala Harris earlier in the administration, perhaps it would have improved the President’s standing, and it certainly could have helped prepare her to lead the ticket,’ Rivera wrote.
The dossier was initially published by CNN with heavy annotations from the DNC disputing the accuracy of many of the report’s claims.
