Jill Biden challenges Joe's former mouthpiece for questioning the timing of her book release: 'Say it to my face'

By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 01:38, 4 June 2026 | Updated: 01:45, 4 June 2026 Former First Lady Jill Biden clapped back at a former staffer who questioned why she dredged up all the Democrats' 2024 drama as the party gears up for the all-important midterms.  Dr Biden returned to Washington, DC, on Wednesday night for an appearance at the Sixth and I synagogue, the second event of her book tour to promote View of the East Wing. The book was released Tuesday and included the admission that she thought President Joe Biden was having a 'stroke' on the 2024 debate stage.  Moderator Paola Ramos pointed to a comment one of President Biden's spokespeople, Andrew Bates, had made to the New York Post for a story published Thursday.  Bates had mused: 'We had a duty to win and we didn't. I think about that all the time. But I don't see why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now.'  Pressed about the timing of her book, the former First Lady sassed at Bates.  'I want to say to Andrew, call me up and say it to my face,' Biden said.  The former First Lady also pushed that there was more to her book than just her retelling of 2024.  'I just want to say that my book has one chapter on the political wounds,' she said.  Former First Lady Jill Biden kicked off her book tour Tuesday night in New York City (pictured). On Wednesday she returned to Washington, DC and sassed at one of her husband's most dedicated staffers  Should political memoirs reveal behind-the-scenes turmoil even if it risks dividing the party further? What's your view?'The rest of the book is my reflection on the four years in the White House,' she added.  Several short chapters were dedicated to the disastrous 2024 presidential debate, the fallout, President Biden's decision to drop out of the race and the lead-up to inauguration day.  She also dedicated an early chapter to the discovery that the former President had Stage 4 cancer four months after leaving office.  President Donald Trump used his predecessor's May 2025 diagnosis to suggest that Biden kept the health condition hidden from the American public while the Democrat was in office.  In her book, Dr Biden explained why that wasn't the case.  Old age concerns were what ultimately derailed President Biden's reelection campaign, with party members calling on him to bow out after his disastrous late June 2024 debate performance.  Biden White House sources, whom the Daily Mail spoke to, cast doubt on the former first lady's retelling of what happened at the debate.  She maintains that she had never seen her husband act like that before - or since.  'To this day, I do not know what happened,' she told the DC audience Wednesday night.  One of the Biden White House post-mortems - written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson - alleged there was a 'cover-up' of Biden's deteriorating condition.  'It's not like we're keeping a secret. It's like we don't know,' the former First Lady insisted.  'I saw Joe aging, I mean - my God - we all saw him aging,' Biden said Wednesday night, cracking up the audience.  Bates did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.   The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.