Jill Biden recently disclosed that during the tumultuous 2024 debate between her husband, Joe Biden, and then-President Donald Trump, campaign aides were so alarmed by his conduct that they arranged for medical professionals to assess him immediately after he left the stage.
This revelation emerged during a conversation with Jonathan Lemire on Tuesday’s episode of Morning Joe, where Jill Biden shared insights into the behind-the-scenes concerns surrounding her husband’s performance.
Lemire prompted the discussion by referencing a comment Jill Biden made in a CBS interview the previous week, where she mentioned fearing her husband might be experiencing a medical issue, like a stroke, during the debate.
Curious about her immediate actions, Lemire inquired, “If you thought there might have been a medical episode, did you advise him to see a doctor at that time?”
Jill Biden responded by explaining, “We had a whole team of doctors with us. I think many Americans might not realize that both I, as the first lady, and the then-president had medical teams readily available.”
She further noted that her husband, as the then-candidate, was similarly supported by a medical team prepared to address any health concerns that arose.
‘So, when I saw that, and I was frightened, I was, you know, scared to death to see that.’
‘But the doctors were there,’ she said, stammering at points.
The former first lady made the revelation on Tuesday’s Morning Joe, while discussing her husband’s performance during the June 2024 presidential debate
She previously offered her husband a glowing on-stage review in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time – urging the crowd he was better-suited for office than Donald Trump
The former first lady then recalled again how her husband immediately knew his performance was poor ‘right after he got off of stage.’
‘I mean, let’s face it, he – Joe knew that this was not a good performance,’ she said.
‘I mean, as we walked off the stage, he whispered to me, “Jill, you know, I really, to put it nicely, screwed up, didn’t I?” And I said, “yes, Joe, you did.”‘
She then set out on answering Lemire’s question.
‘And then we got off the stage and, you know, I went to get my stuff. He was checked out by the doctors. They said he’s fine.’
She maintained that Biden ‘went on to do three more events that night,’ without issue or raising any further alarms.
‘And so, to me, as I look back, I mean, that was so inexplicable. I just – to this day, it’s just inexplicable to me,’ she said.
The appearance was part of a push for her new book, which hit shelves on Tuesday.
‘Well, we had a whole team of doctors around us… I mean, I think most Americans may not know that we have a team of doc – I have a team of doctors around me as first lady,’ she told host Jonathan Lemire
The Tuesday appearance is part of the former first lady’s book tour. She claimed for the first time that she thought her husband was ‘having a stroke’ during a separate interview with CBS News Sunday Morning
The memoir, titled View From the East Wing, is a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the then-first lady’s life when Biden was in the White House.
She told CBS News Sunday Morning’s Rita Braver last week that she didn’t ‘know what happened’ during her husband’s debate.and
‘I mean, as I watched it, I thought, “Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.” And it scared me to death,’ she said.
‘I was frightened. Because I had never, ever seen Joe like that. Before or since.’
She also claimed that Biden would have won the 2024 election had he not dropped out of the race. ‘I believe he would have beat Donald Trump in that election,’ she said.
When asked why she thought last-minute replacement Kamala Harris lost, she said, ‘I truly don’t know.’
On-stage in Georgia after the debate, the then-first lady was filmed telling her husband: ‘You did such a great job. You answered every question. You knew all the facts.’
‘What kind of political system covers that up, and makes it OK to lie to people about what everybody knows is true?’ CNN’s Abby Phillip said of the change in tune on Wednesday’s edition of NewsNight.
She and Biden’s other family members spent weeks maintaining he could hold office. The former president abandoned his election bid after more than three weeks of defending his ability to lead for another four years.
