Jill Biden feared Joe was ‘having a STROKE’ during disastrous Trump debate: ‘It scared me to death’
Jill Biden feared her husband was ‘paralysed’ on live television during his disastrous debate with Donald Trump that ultimately sank his re-election campaign.
‘I was scared because I’d never seen Joe like that before or since. “Never,” the former First Lady told CBS News in a recent interview.
Biden appeared fragile and stuck on his words during his infamous clash with Trump in June 2024; This was a turning point when Democratic allies began publicly questioning his fitness for office.
“I don’t know what it is,” Jill continued. ‘As I watched, I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared the hell out of me.”
The 74-year-old first lady was one of Biden’s closest confidants and a driving force behind his re-election bid in 2024.
He strongly advocated for him to remain in the race after the debate and had a strained relationship with his eventual successor for the Democratic nomination, Kamala Harris.
“You did such a great job, you answered every question, you had all the facts,” Jill told her husband when they joined fans on stage after the debate.
But just a few weeks later, the 83-year-old actor had to leave school. Since leaving office, Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
‘I was scared because I’d never seen Joe like that before or since. “Never,” former First Lady tells CBS News
His age and inability to communicate effectively have led to widespread health fears for Biden
Biden famously appeared weak and stumbled over his words during his infamous debate against Trump in June 2024.
Biden became the first sitting president to abandon his re-election bid since Lyndon B Johnson in 1968.
Jill’s surprising admission to CBS News came just days before the release of her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir.
Biden was subject to widespread criticism at that time for not stepping aside sooner after it became clear that he would not be a candidate for a second term.
When he eventually backed out, Biden immediately backed Harris, effectively closing the door on an open Democratic primary.
Last week’s bombshell Democratic Party autopsy revealed how the White House prioritized Jill over Harris during the 2024 elections.
The report states that Biden’s White House gave ample space to the votes and strategies aimed at Jill, while Harris was so neglected that her aides did not prepare any investigation when Jill was sentenced.
In the 192-page dossier commissioned by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Biden White House, Dr. He wrote that Jill had ordered a comprehensive vote on the settings, issues and messages she should use to support her husband’s presidency.
But an equivalent survey for Harris was never commissioned, and when Biden steps aside in July 2024, pollsters scrambled to commission three emergency studies into the field.
Jill’s surprising admission to CBS News came just days before the release of her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir.
Kamala Harris and Jill Biden had a strained relationship in the White House
The author, veteran Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, calls the failure a ‘major missed opportunity’ and concludes that the White House never positioned or prepared its own Vice President to confront Trump.
“As a result, at the time of the candidate change, the polling team discovered that the Vice President had no self-research to guide the development of survey instruments,” Rivera wrote.
‘A sitting Vice President. There’s no research to share once you’re nominated.’
“Had the White House explored and considered ways to use Kamala Harris earlier in the administration, perhaps the President’s standing would have improved and certainly would have helped prepare him to lead the ticket,” Rivera wrote.
The dossier was first published by CNN, along with harsh statements from the DNC disputing the accuracy of many of the report’s claims.
