President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on former first lady Jill Biden after she revealed in her upcoming memoir that she wondered if her husband, former President Joe Biden, was suffering a stroke during their disastrous June 2024 debate. The debate ultimately led to Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race.
Trump's Response on Truth Social
Writing on Truth Social, Trump slammed Jill Biden for not sufficiently praising his debate performance and suggested that his strong showing caused Biden to choke. He questioned why she did not rush onto the stage to help her husband, as any good wife would do. Trump wrote: "She said that she thought he was having a 'stroke,' and various other really bad things, and yet never rushed onto the stage to help her troubled husband, as any good wife would do. The only thing she failed to mention was how well I was doing prior to his near total collapse."
He added: "In other words, as many have asked, did my strong performance in that debate cause him to plain and simple 'choke,' leading to his ignominious defeat, or were other reasons the cause? Nobody else knows the answer to that, BUT I DO!!!"
Jill Biden's Memoir Excerpts
Trump's comments came after The Atlantic published a story detailing excerpts from Jill Biden's memoir, View From the East Wing. She recounted her reaction during Biden's meandering, somnolent performance, wondering if he was "short-circuiting," had been "drugged," or was "having a stroke." She wrote: "Nothing explained what I was seeing. To this day, I still don't know what happened. Why wasn't he making any sense? It was inexplicable to me."
In a separate interview with CBS News, Jill Biden said she had been "frightened" during the debate because she had never seen Joe like that before or since. "I don't know what happened ... as I watched it, I thought, 'Oh, my God, he's having a stroke.' And it scared me to death," she said.
In an excerpt published by USA Today, she wrote that her husband "lost himself" on that stage. "He lost the essence of who he was. He did not speak from the heart. His opponent lied more than a hundred times, but that didn't matter." She added that after the debate, Biden asked her if he had "really f**ked up."
Democratic Reaction
Biden's memoir and accompanying publicity tour have raised hackles among Democrats, who are more eager to focus on the midterm elections than re-litigate the 2024 election disaster, which many trace back to Biden's decision to run despite his advanced age.
