Jill Biden says 'I'm his wife' when pressed over post-debate defense and stroke admission

WASHINGTON, DC: Days after President Donald Trump slammed former First Lady Jill Biden for not rushing to help her husband despite privately fearing he was suffering a stroke, NBC's Craig Melvin pressed her over her debate response and stroke concern on Monday, June 1. 

Jill was seen acknowledging that she feared her husband, former President Joe Biden, suffered a “stroke” in a preview clip of an interview with CBS News 'Sunday Morning'.

“I mean, as I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke’ – and it scared me to death,” Jill Biden said in the clip.

Craig Melvin questions Jill Biden's contradictory remarks

Craig Melvin pressed Jill Biden on her response to the debate at the after-debate event, setting a contradiction between her newly admitted fears and previous public reassurances.

Melvin challenged Jill Biden over her continued public defense of the former president in the days and weeks following the debate, despite her recent admission that she feared he might be suffering a stroke while on stage.

When asked how she reconciled those concerns with her public statements insisting Joe Biden was fine, Jill Biden said she was reacting in real time and was focused on supporting her husband after what she described as a difficult night.

According to the former first lady, Biden appeared to recover after leaving the debate stage and immediately acknowledged that he had performed poorly.

"He gets off the stage, I see he appears to be OK," Jill Biden said. She recalled Biden telling her, "I really messed up, didn't I?" to which she replied, "Yes, you did."

Jill Biden said she then faced the challenge of encouraging her husband before a series of additional campaign events. "My mind was racing," she said. "What do I say to him? I'm his wife. I've got to lift him up."

Jill Biden says she had to encourage Joe Biden as his wife

Melvin pushed back, calling that assessment "a pretty low bar."

Jill Biden acknowledged the criticism but defended her response, arguing that her role as a spouse was to support her husband rather than publicly criticize him.

"I said, 'You answered every question,'" she said, adding that she was searching for something positive to tell him after the debate.

"I had to sort of lift him up. I’m his wife. I’m not going to get out on the stage there and say, 'Joe, you really screwed that up,'" she explained.

“I mean — and we have all of our supporters, you know, so that’s who we are – I had to support him. I couldn’t come out and, I mean, really, publicly, say, Joe, you did a terrible job in a debate,” Jill replied.

During the 2024 presidential debate, Biden struggled throughout the evening, marking the debate a defining moment of the presidential race.