Former first lady Jill Biden has again addressed speculation about her husband, former President Joe Biden's, health during the 2024 presidential debate, stating her continued consideration of the possibility that he was drugged and confirming she was asked by doctors if a stroke had been ruled out that night.
During an interview on Jamie Kern Lima's podcast, Biden was asked directly if doctors had ruled out a stroke on the night of the debate. "Well, they did. They said, I mean, I didn't say to them, when I was writing my book, I was reflecting, but I didn't say, 'God, did Joe have a stroke?' I just said, 'Is he okay? Is he okay?'" Biden responded.
When asked by Lima what her gut instinct was about what happened, Biden stated she didn't know. "I mean, there's all kinds of theories — you know, he had been traveling," she said. "I know he was tired, he didn't feel well that day, when I saw him, but there was nothing definitive that I could point to. And I had been on the road for two weeks up until that moment. So, I wasn't with him. I didn't see him days before, weeks before. I saw him maybe one hour before."
Lima then posed the question: "There's no way anyone could have, God forbid, laced his drink or something?" to which Biden replied, "Who knows? Who knows?"
Jill Biden's memoir, "View from the East Wing," details her reaction to the former president's debate performance. She wrote that her immediate thought was that he might be having a stroke. "I wasn’t horrified, I was frightened," she recalled in a May interview. "I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. I don’t know what happened. As I watched it, I said, ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’ It scared me to death."
She told Lima that doctors were always present and assured her that the former president was okay that night. "It was like such an aberration," she added.
The former first lady's remarks have drawn criticism, with some within the Democratic Party viewing the rehashing of the 2024 debate as a distraction. Andrew Bates, a former Biden spokesperson, expressed that he did not see the need to publicly reopen that "painful conversation for the party." Jill Biden publicly responded to Bates, stating, "I want to say to Andrew: Call me up, and say it to my face, buddy."
Dr. Matt Dallek, a professor of political management at George Washington University, commented that while the memoir tour might not impact future elections, some Democrats perceive the Bidens as dwelling on the past. He noted that while affection for the Bidens remains in the Democratic Party, there is also pain associated with the memory of the Biden presidency. The former president is expected to release his own book about his presidency in November.