Family Challenges and First Lady Role

It's considered this where every day we go deep on one big news story Today, a brand new perspective on what essentially marked the beginning of the end of Joe Biden's presidency When he stepped onto the debate stage in june twenty twenty four. Daling with Everything we have to do with If We finally beat Medicare. The fallout from Biden's debate performance was swift Democratic lawmakers and voters quickly called for him to drop out of the race questioned his ability to lead the country Several weeks later, Biden made an unprecedented decision. President Joe Biden said today that he's dropping out of the twenty twenty four presidential race. Now, former firstirst Lady Jill Biden is telling her side of the story she says she saw and knew about her husband's health Others were telling her at the time. No one came to me and said, Jill I have seen this moment at, you know, blank the blank No one came to me and said that Consider this, plenty of people in and around the Biden administration have given their take on what went wrong with his campaign Now we're hearing about it from the person closest to him P. I'm Sott Dettruck. It's Consider this from NPR. Jill Biden's new memoir out this week is called View fromrom the East Wing. A lot of it details her life as first lady, memories of living in the White House, going on state visits But she also goes into detail about why she never doubted her husband's fitness to serve as president for a second term even after that disastrous debate performance And that's where our conversation started I I don't want to curse in front of a former first lady and I definitely don't wantan to curse in front of a teacher. I'm a philly girl. I'm used to it. I wanted to start with what I thought was a really human moment whereere you are walking off stage with President Biden after that debate. Yeah And he turns to you and he says, I really fed up, didn't I And you said Yes you did. You did Can you tell me what you were feeling as a spouse, as an American, as somebody in the room at that moment with him Sure. You know, I had been in a green room and I was watching on TV And when that moment happened I was, I mean, I was I didn't know what to think. You know, I was frightened. I was terrified. I thought, Ohh my God, what's happening? Is this You know, is this a stroke? What is this So when we walked off that stage, relief in that moment that he realized you know, how terribly it had gone And then we met up in the car. and then the doctors, you know checked him out and they said, Oh he's fine. And uh That's what I was wondering when you mentioned the stroke. Was there a moment of let's get him checked out and just see for sure Well, there was a moment when, you know, the doctors, they were watching too. I mean, he had a whole team of doctors around him. so I knew that they were going to check him out Then Scott went on to three more events. And he was fine. I mean it was like it never even happened And so when people say to me, what happened in that moment? I don't know. Since the first excerpts of this book came out and since you've done a few interviews, there have been some reports of White House staffers in the administration saying We had seen other moments like that You had never seen another moment like that. Never. Never and you know what, Scott No one came to me and said, Jill I have seen this moment at, you know, blank the blank No one came to me and said that, no one on the medical staff who were traveling with them when these supposed White House people said this. They never said it to me either quickly did you all realize? How much of a shift was taking place around you? The opinions and the views of the Biden family versus other Democratic leaders who suddenly felt very concerned about the presresident still being in the race U I would say I got out on the campaign trail and it was mixed. I mean, a lot of people were saying he's got to stay in, he's got to stay in. So I think it was what was it threeree weeks after the debate that Joe got it was a three weeks and just started as a, you know, this low roar, I guess and became a loud roar. Yeah And you write that On one hand, You knew this had to be his decision. Absolutely. But on the other hand you really felt He was the best position person. You still felt that in that moment of that summer. I did because he was still doing his job. When he did make that announcement, you write in a lot of detail about that day, and you write about the phone call that he had with Vice President Harris that morning And you say that when she was talking to him about when and how you would endorse her You had to leave the room I was overwhelmed I mean, it was You know, just all of it the swirl of it all, you know, how was you going to do it? When was you going to do it? What were the steps? What was the process? It was overwhelming. Scott, you have to remember You know, he's my husband I love him. and to watch what he was going through And to think, I mean, he's been in public service. We've both been in public service for fifty years. That's a long time And At one point, it just it just got too much. So it wasn't necessarily that you thought she was doing anything wrong. It was just that No it was just I was overcome. Yeah. Can I ask about how you thought about the balance of personal versus public because these were personal decisions. This was his career, his life. That's correct But when he's the president of the United States, any personal decision has national international implications. How did you and he think about personal decision and how it affected the rest of the world if that entered the equation. Oh my gosh. Well, I think Let's face it. I mean, he was a figure on the national stage, on the global stage. He was respected by world leaders And u to say all the leaders came up to me Jill tellell the president Please tell I was asking for him. What a great leader. They had nothing but good to say about. I mean, Joe strengthened NATO. job he did. I mean, we were so respected as a global leader and so didid his personal Did decision affect the rest of the world? Yes, it did. You know Vice President Harris wrote in her book that she felt like She could have had a better chance if she had had more time to run. And I'm wondering what your response is to that to that thinking of should President Biden make that decision earlier or if he was going to make that decision? Could if he have helped his vice presresident? I'm not a political pundent. I'm not I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. And u That's my answer When I cover the campaign, when I cover the White House, I was one of mayay I say though, I did think she was going to win. You did. So you were surprised. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I campaigned all over the country for her. And I saw the enthusiasm. I saw the excitement I went to bed that night, election night, thinking she was going to win. I was shocked When I got up in the morning And somebody called me and said Have you seen the news So I truly believe she was going to win I know you say you're not a political figure, but you know a lot about politics. You know a lot more about politics. Yeah lived it. But given that, have you thought Do you have a sense of why you think America wanted to put President Trump back in the White House in that moment? I have no idea knowing how it all played out, if you could tell yourself Anything during during that twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four period? Is there anything youd tell yourself? You know, Scott what we went through Um It was really hurtful I think it was a dark read in our lives that People we consider to be friends or supporters said such hurtful things. And so to look back It wasn't just me and Joe. Look at our grandkids you know, seeing them go through that and They were No, I'd never want to go through that again There's a chapter in this book about a really intense week of your life the week where you were shuttling back and forth between official duties as First lady in France and Hunter's trial Why was it so important to you to be in both places that week, to do this this this I remember seeing the schedule and thinking, how can she do this? You're in France? You're back in Delaware. You're in France. you're in Delaware. Yeah. Why did you feel like you had to be both places Well, first and foremost I'm Hunter's mother. And of course, I was going to be there for him But I also knew I was first lady And I was expected to carry out my duties as firstirst Lady and I did You wrote at the end of that chapter In the end, working so hard to be impartial guuaranteed that Hunter would be the worst possible fate. Can you tell me more about how you thought about all of that? Well, I think You know, the process was just so unfair to Hunter. And in trying to be so impartial, Joe you know, not interfering with the Justice Department. But then Trump got elected. He said there was going to be retribution. He said he wanted Hunter Biden in jail And there just was no way He would have been sentenced Before Trump came back into office, so can you tell me more about what specifically you were worried about about what Hunter's Fate could look like with a President Trump compared to a President Harris Oh my gosh, well I don't really know, but I certainly don't think it would have been fair under Trump. And then when he heard Trump onn the TV over and over and over saying, you know, Hunter Biden you should be in jail, Hunter Biden, you know that he was going to make sure that our son went to jail, it just was not fair And we knew what was going to happen So that is why Joe changed his mind. He truly changed his mind He truly changed his mind You had about a close of a view of the role of first lady as you could get, I think, before you got it. your second lady for eight years. Yeah. You were a Senate spouse for a long period of time. What We're not going to go intogees here. But I guess what about that role different than you thought it. Oh my God, it was so much different because I thought, oh, second lady is going to be just like first lady, you know, it may be a little bit harder, but it is completely different. Your responsibilities are completely different. the expectations, the security It was at a much higher level I saw Michelle go through it and s such a Beautiful job with such grace and poise you know, being, u I mean, she was a Senate spouse too, but we were both working women Michelle and I were. so we weren't like part of the Washington fabric I was in Delaware. She was in Chicago and to see her thrown into it and how beautifully She did. I mean, it was amazing What's your advice to President Trump's term limited. either way there's going to be a new person coming into that job in a couple of years. What's your advice Democrat or Republican, man or woman, what's your advice to that next first lady or first gentleman about what to expect Do it your own way. I mean, be authentic to yourself. I think every first lady comes into office and has whatever she has determined she's wanted to work on I had what I wanted to work on Everyone does it differently. Barbara Bush did it differently than Laura Bush Hillary Clinton did it differently than Michelle. I mean Melania is doing it differently It's her way. so u each woman so far spouses have chosen their own path Former First Lady Jill Biden in her new book is The View from the East Wing. Thank you so much for talking to us.. Thank you for having me on Thanks for listening to Consider this. And before we go, I will plug another podcast because that is where you can watch the entire conversation with Jill Biden It's NPR's Newsmakers podcast. You can follow or subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch your podcasts This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlum and edited by Ashley Brown Audio Egineering by Cena Lafredo O interim executive producer is Courtney Dornning. It's Consider this from NPR. I'm Scott Detrro