(Headline USA) Jill Biden says she feared her husband was having a stroke as she watched then-President Joe Biden stumble through a disastrous debate performance that led to the end of his 2024 reelection campaign, the former first lady said in a recent interview.
“I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden told CBS News in an interview scheduled to air Sunday.
NEW: Former First Lady Jill Biden says she thought her husband was having a stroke during his 2024 debate against Donald Trump.
Jill famously boasted on stage with Joe Biden after the debate about how he did "such a great job."
"I thought, 'Oh my God, he's having a stroke,' and… pic.twitter.com/wfYBoIpxWx
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 27, 2026
Joe Biden’s shaky, mumbling and sometimes confused delivery against Donald Trump in June 2024 gave fuel to questions voters already had about his fitness for a second term. His attempts to explain away his performance and offer reassurance that he could handle four more years of the demanding job did little to assuage voters. Under mounting pressure from within his party, he stepped aside, and Democrats nominated Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I don’t know what happened,” Jill Biden said in the interview. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”
However, observers questioned Jill’s comments after a video resurfaced of her and Joe visiting a Waffle House after the disastrous debate.
ATLANTA — President @JoeBiden said he thinks he did well tonight and is experiencing a sore throat, in a post-debate stop at a Waffle House near Truist Park. pic.twitter.com/rMICE0bLKw
— Michelle Baruchman (@mlbaruchman) June 28, 2024
The former first lady is promoting a book due out next week, “View from the East Wing: A Memoir.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
