Jill Biden reveals Joe Biden's withering first words after disastrous 2024 Donald Trump debate
Jill Biden, the wife of former president Joe Biden, has revealed her husband acknowledged his catastrophic 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump the moment he stepped off stage when he whispered to her: "I really f***ed up didn't I?"
The former first lady offered a blunt response to the then-president, saying: "Yeah Joe, you did."
Speaking in New York on Tuesday to promote her memoir, View from the East Wing, she disclosed how doctors had examined the then-president immediately after leaving the stage.
Despite the disastrous showing on CNN that would ultimately end his re-election campaign, medical staff assured Miss Biden there was nothing physically wrong with Mr Biden.
"The doctor said to me, 'Jill, he's fine'," she recalled.
Her candid admission stands in contrast to the public face she presented at a rally immediately after that fateful debate.
At the time, she praised her husband, telling him: "Joe, you did such a great job, you answered every question, you knew all the facts."
Her confession has sparked fresh scrutiny over revelations in her autobiography about what she truly believed was happening on stage.
In the book, Miss Biden writes watching Mr Biden, then 81, lose his train of thought during the debate left her fearing the worst, initially suspecting he might have overdosed on medication or was suffering a stroke.
His confused response to questioning effectively destroyed any prospect of securing a second term.
Yet even now, nearly two years on, Miss Biden remains uncertain whether Mr Biden could have even managed another four years in office.
"I don't know. I don't know the answer to that," she admitted during an appearance on Morning Joe earlier on Tuesday.
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Mr Biden received a diagnosis of stage four prostate cancer last year, with the disease having spread to his bones.
His wife attributed the delayed detection to medical guidelines followed by White House physicians.
The American Urological Association's protocols state men over the age of 70 do not require PSA blood tests for prostate cancer screening, meaning the examination was never performed.
Mr Biden attended Tuesday's launch, moving stiffly to his seat before announcing his own book would arrive in September.
The former first lady also described feeling deeply wounded by the conduct of those she had considered close allies within the Democratic Party.
In the weeks following the debate, senior figures increasingly demanded publicly Mr Biden stand aside.
"To have people who we really considered close friends come out publicly and say really terrible things about Joe, I mean, you're supposedly our friends," she said.
"If you want to come to us and say that to us personally, that's one thing. But to go on TV shows or out in the press, it was really hurtful."
She acknowledged the pressure campaign ultimately succeeded, forcing her husband to recognise he had lost the Democrats' backing.
The ordeal proved hardest on their children and grandchildren, she added.
When host Whoopi Goldberg asked about media treatment, Miss Biden suggested a double standard existed.
"If Joe would have done any one of the things that are occurring now, he would have been excoriated," she said.
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