While the entire world knows Jill Biden is the ‘First Lady’ of the United States, she has been actually playing an outsized role in her husband’s administration thus giving birth to whisper inside the White House where majority of the staffers are calling her by codename of “Associate President”.
Sources claimed that Jill Biden is wielding quite a bit of influence over President Joe Biden’s decisions as she participates directly in vetting administration officials, sitting in meetings, protecting her husband from long events, and many other duties that appear to shield her husband from handling too much on his own.
“Jill Biden’s reported influence in the White House comes as Joe Biden has been scrutinized for being led off stage by the first lady, and appearing to be physically led away from reporters’ questions. Jill Biden has been appearing frequently at public events and plans to hit the campaign trail going into the 2024 election”, British newspaper The Guardian in a report said.
The outlet noted that Jill is “running the show” behind the scenes:
Behind the scenes, First Lady Jill Biden might be running the show. In an interview with David Muir, President Biden was asked about a second run, and he joked, “I gotta call [Jill] and find out.” He was kidding, but there is some truth behind his wife’s influence. A former senior adviser told Politico, “She is always his final gut check”. As of April 2023, the president officially made his re-election bid. He released a campaign video where his wife can be spotted embracing the vice president, speaking out, and politicking on the campaign trail.
A former advisor to the Head of State shared, “She is usually in the room when senior campaign staff is presenting a strategy to her husband. She will ask questions. But she never weighs in on the decision”.
“The first lady, Jill Biden, encouraged her husband to seek a second term. According to the president’s senior advisers, he will often consider her opinion before making final decisions on official matters. She is also expected to play a large role on the campaign trail as Biden faces backlash for his family. A career educator, she offers a perspective over GOP fights about book bans and other policies in schools and has served as a connection to suburban voters, particularly women,” the outlet added.
“She is really effective in talking about how the Biden agenda is good for moms, for women, for working women,” Kate Bedingfield, a former White House communications director, and 2020 deputy campaign manager, told Politico newspaper.
Jill Biden also went public recently amid questions surrounding Joe Biden’s mental acuity:
His age raises concerns about agility and mental capacity. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley proposed that politicians over the age of 75 should be required to pass a mental competency test.
However, the first lady says a competency test is absurd. In an interview with CNN, Jill Biden defended her husband saying, “How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train? Go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy?” There’s no need for a competency test in her eyes, you just need to open yours. She says, “So, look at the man. Look what he’s doing. Look what he continues to do each and every day”.
The White House has experienced unprecedented departures under President Biden.
According to a new report, Jill Biden’s office is now undergoing massive turnover as a top aide has departed.
Elizabeth Alexander, Jill Biden’s communications director, will take a brief leave of absence to lead the “messaging arm” of President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.
“The move speaks to how Biden’s campaign is still taking shape, one week after he announced he would seek another term. The campaign announced only two staff hires on its first day: campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks”, Brookings reported.
“Since 2006, Elizabeth has been a steadfast advisor to President Biden and the first lady. Her deep communications knowledge and expertise will serve the campaign well — helping stand up a campaign communication team that will reach voters where they are across all forms of media while staying true to who Joe Biden is”, Anita Dunn, a Biden adviser, said in a statement.
Rory Brosius, who has been running the Joining Forces project, left her post last week. Sheila Casey, the wife of former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, will take over for Brosius.
Jill Biden has also been caught up in leaks to the media, with reports saying she rages at staffers and tries to control her husband throughout the day.
The Brookings study found that the turnover rate of Biden’s top-level aides is at the second highest since former President Ronald Reagan was in office.
The study found that 21 “A-Team staffers” were gone after two years.
