 "President Joe Biden, left, and first lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 7, 2024, after returning from events in Pennsylvania. AP")
US First Lady Jill Biden is right at her husband’s side, trying to rally support for her husband after a poor debate performance stirred fresh concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and his ability to compete in November’s election to serve another four years.
Earlier, while exiting Air Force One to head for a pair of campaign stops at luxurious vacation homes on Long Island, she had declared, “Joe isn’t just the right person for the job. He’s the only person for the job.”
Joe Biden faces what could be a defining challenge of his presidency, and he says democracy itself is on the line in his race against former President Donald Trump.
But will Jill Biden’s support be enough? Let’s take a closer look.
‘Biggest supporter’
Jill and Hunter Biden are two of the individuals to whom President Biden is known to listen the most, and both have urged the president to continue running for office.
Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady’s communications director, said Jill Biden’s most important role is as the president’s spouse, not as one of his many political and policy advisers.
“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,” Alexander wrote in an email.
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More Shorts“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.”
Alexander stated that most women, especially first ladies, struggle to speak up but not too loudly, to execute their jobs properly but without fanfare, or else they run the risk of being accused of being excessively ambitious or aggressive.
“Society has put all first ladies, including Dr Biden, in an impossible situation, especially with today’s social media, bots, and the right wing machine fuelling narratives and inventing false caricatures at every turn,” Alexander said.
Campaigning for the President
Jill Biden campaigned alongside her husband in North Carolina, New York, and New Jersey, being by his side during the post-debate controversy.
Before meeting him again for July 4 at the White House, she took a break to go on some solo campaigning.
She filled in for him once more on Monday during a tour through Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina that was meant to elicit support from military families and veterans but was also a part of the Biden team’s larger attempt to try to turn the conversation back towards Trump.
She said to the throng that she agrees with Biden’s choice to continue running.
“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” she said at all three stops. “That’s the decision he’s made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too. I know you are too, or you wouldn’t be here today.”
Multiple roles
As first lady, Jill Biden is the first to work outside the White House. She is a professor of English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught since 2009.
By Tuesday, the first lady was back at the White House in her role as hostess, welcoming NATO leaders and their spouses for the annual summit.
She arranged brunch for the spouses on Wednesday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and was joining the president to welcome the couples to a White House dinner in the evening.
Still, Jill took on yet another role this week: fashion consultant. As brunch with the NATO spouses wrapped up, she sent them off with advice for their visit Thursday to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains.
“Please dress comfortably,” she said. “Don’t put on those high heels because you’re gonna be going into helicopters … so please just wear flats, wear sneakers. Just feel comfortable.”
She’s also travelling three states this week to back the Biden administration’s military policy.
The public witnessed Jill Biden in her capacity as the head of the family weeks before the debate when she was seated behind Hunter in a Delaware federal courtroom during his trial and conviction for felonies involving firearms.
Criticism
Jill Biden has spent more than three years juggling numerous tasks as first lady, and during that time, the public has come to know her well.
She is currently working to save her husband’s presidential candidature, but she is facing increased criticism from those who see her as a power-hungry spouse who is pressuring her ageing husband to run for office again so she may continue living the high life in the White House.
Furthermore, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has begun attacking the First Lady, saying at a rally in Florida this week that she and the President’s son, Hunter Biden, are actually in charge of the nation without providing any supporting evidence.
With inputs from AP