Jill Biden Reveals Stroke Fears During 2024 Debate

Jill Biden revealed that she feared President Joe Biden was having a stroke during his faltering debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024. In an upcoming interview with CBS News, Jill Biden described being 'frightened' as she watched the debate, stating she had never seen her husband like that before or since.

The admission comes ahead of the publication of her memoir, View from the East Wing, where she discusses her husband's re-election campaign and his decision to withdraw. During the debate, then-President Biden struggled with a raspy voice, long pauses, and incoherent responses, prompting widespread concern among Democrats and calls for him to end his bid for a second term.

Jill Biden had initially praised her husband's debate performance at a post-debate rally in Atlanta. However, she later admitted that she thought he was having a stroke as she watched the debate unfold. The former president ultimately dropped out of the race about a month after the debate, endorsing then-Vice President Kamala Harris with just 107 days until the general election.

In her memoir, Jill Biden writes that she even suspected her husband may have been inadvertently impaired after taking cough syrup. In the CBS interview, Biden maintained that she never saw any signs of cognitive decline while he was the sitting president. 'He was the same, the essence of the same Joe Biden, but yeah, he was slowing down. He was getting older,' she said.

Doctors checked on former President Joe Biden moments after his disastrous debate with President Trump, according to Jill Biden's account in an NPR interview. She recounted that doctors examined him shortly after the debate, contrary to previous reports that they did so days later. This revelation adds a new layer of concern about Biden's health during that critical period.

In her memoir, Jill Biden also discusses the immense pressure Joe Biden faced in the aftermath of his disastrous 2024 debate performance. She recalled him saying “Jilly, I had no choice,” following his decision to drop out of the presidential race. The former first lady made these comments during a book event coinciding with the release of her new memoir at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

Donald Trump has seized on Jill Biden's admission, claiming his own 'spectacular' performance is what really made his rival 'choke'. Trump mocked her for not rushing 'onto the stage to help her troubled husband, as any good wife would do.' He wrote on Truth Social that he knows what really happened during the debate.

In a new development, co-hosts of The View expressed disappointment in Jill Biden for not addressing her husband's cognitive decline privately. Sunny Hostin questioned how Jill Biden could have missed signs of Joe Biden's decline, given their long relationship. Sara Haines argued that if Jill thought Joe might have had a stroke, her immediate reaction should have been to suggest he step down.

Top Democrats have criticized Jill Biden’s memoir for reopening 2024 wounds. John Morgan, a Florida trial attorney and major fundraiser for Biden’s 2024 campaign, told The Los Angeles Times that her account is 'unhelpful' and misleading. Meghan Hays, a former White House aide to Joe Biden, said on C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” that Jill Biden's efforts are not helping the party ahead of the midterm elections.