The former first lady described feeling betrayed by friends who urged her husband to step down.
By World Israel News Staff
Former first lady Jill Biden recalled her heartbreak after members of the Democratic Party — including some who had been friends with her and former President Joe Biden for more than 50 years — turned on her husband following his disastrous performance in the June 2024 debate against then-candidate Donald Trump.
Biden described a sense of betrayal as Democratic allies, after years of dismissing concerns about Biden’s mental acuity, began calling on him to abandon his reelection bid following a catastrophic debate appearance in which he struggled to answer questions, trailed off mid-sentence, and appeared distracted.
The Democratic backlash against her husband “was really hurtful,” Biden said during an appearance on the daytime talk show The View, where she was promoting her new book.
“It was heartbreaking that” Joe Biden “had lost the support of the Democratic Party,” she recounted, adding that many of the former allies who turned on her husband were “friends who we…counted on, who we knew for 50 years.”
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg noted that numerous senior Democrats “worked behind the scenes” to ensure Biden would step aside.
The former first lady responded that many of them had worked “not so behind the scenes” to accomplish that goal.
Biden, who was 81 at the time, repeatedly stumbled over his words during the debate, with visible difficulties emerging just minutes into the event.
Trump largely refrained from attacking Biden during the debate.
But after one particularly nonsensical answer from the then-president, Trump quipped: “”I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
The performance came after months of speculation about Biden’s cognitive fitness.
Then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had repeatedly argued that videos showing Biden stumbling physically or appearing confused were misleadingly edited or deepfakes.
The debate, however, intensified concerns about Biden’s ability to effectively challenge Trump in a head-to-head contest.
