TALK TO JILL IF YOU WANT JOE TO QUIT
Dr Jill Biden’s ‘wide and deep’ role in the President’s fight to the end
Dr Jill Biden has been a rock for her husband as his campaign for re-election wavers, publicly backing US President Joe Biden as he resists calls to step aside.
The First Lady has taken a high-profile role in the 81-year-old’s race for the White House, at his side for the Nato summit this week, on hand for support and on the road campaigning on his behalf.
She was the one apparently doing much to improve diplomatic relations with the French at the Nato conference in Washington this week, where she was pictured holding hands with French President Emmanuel Macron.
On the campaign trail on Monday, the 73-year-old told rallies in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia she was behind her spouse all the way.
“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” she said. “That’s the decision he’s made.
“And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too.”
After Biden’s poor performance in the debate with Donald Trump, she was heard to congratulate him on a “good job”. In comments described as “infantilising” by some observers, she added: “You answered every question. You knew all the facts.”
Speaking to Vogue afterwards, the President’s wife of 47 years said the family “will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he’s been President. We will continue to fight.”
The President acknowledged the influence she has over him at his press conference on Thursday night, when he referred to his packed schedule, apparently attributing his debate performance to international travel the week before. He said: “I just have to pace myself a little more… I love my staff, but they add things all the time. I’m catching hell from my wife.”
But as concerns are raised about his physical and mental health and demands for him to step aside from within the Democratic Party grow louder, questions are being asked about whether Dr Biden’s influence is driving his unwavering bid to return to the White House or is simply a loyal wife prepared to back her husband in whatever decides.
Professor John Owens, professor of American Government and Politics at the University of Westminster, said that “like any close family, Joe and Jill will influence one another greatly”.
He told i: “Given Joe’s institutional position and Jill’s wide and deep involvement in her husband’s re-election campaign, that will be important to whether or not he remains president and stays in the race. Beyond that, it’s speculation.
“Moreover, other close political allies – representing the party – are bound to exert influence, notably, [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries, and [House Speaker Emerita Nancy] Pelosi.”
On the question of how much influence Dr Biden, 73, has on her husband and to what effect, he said: “I guess we’ll find out sooner or later.”
But he warned that “in order for the existential threat of Trump to be met effectively, Biden needs to resign ASAP and be replaced by Harris”.
Veteran Democratic political strategist Hank Sheinkop has previously described the President’s wife, who still works as an English professor, as “Biden’s closest adviser”.
But Elizabeth Alexander, the First Lady’s communications director, said Dr Biden’s most important role is as the President’s spouse rather than political adviser.
She said: “As much as any husband and wife team make decisions together that impact their lives, they absolutely do, but as she’s said more times than I can count, politics is his lane.
“She’s his biggest supporter and champion, because she believes in him, and she fears for the future of our country if it goes the other way. Just as he’s always supported her career, she supports his.”
Dr Elspeth Van Veeren, associate professor in Global Politics at the University of Bristol, cautioned against seeing Dr Biden as the ultimate power behind the throne.
She told i: “We should exert some caution in terms of looking to Jill Biden as an explanation for Joe Biden’s choices until a historical record (interviews, memoirs, diaries) becomes available.
“Joe Biden is and has been a political actor of significance in US politics for decades and subject to all sorts of influences – past and present.
“Otherwise, we risk reproducing the idea of ‘the manipulative woman behind the throne’ trope (a Lady Macbeth figure or feminina suspectis) that is an extremely problematic, if recurrent feature, of presidential politics and elections.”
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