Jill Biden's confession about the high-pressure moment Kamala Harris cornered Joe

By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 20:23, 22 June 2026 | Updated: 20:26, 22 June 2026 Former First Lady Jill Biden is now playing cleanup after disclosing she walked out of the room when Vice President Kamala Harris was asking President Joe Biden for his endorsement.  Dr. Biden wrote about the day her husband dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in her memoir, View from the East Wing, including how he called Harris to tell her the news.  The former First Lady described Harris as acting like a 'courtroom prosecutor' in her insistence that the President endorse her immediately. When asked about that moment on an episode of the Jay Shetty Podcast, which was released Monday, Biden appeared to soften her tone.  'Well, I was just upset. I was just plain upset,' she explained.  Shetty has specifically asked the former First Lady about Harris's insistence that she be endorsed immediately.  'It just became sort of overwhelming, you know?' Biden continued. 'But I got right out there for Kamala. And I was on the campaign trail a lot.'     Biden said being out on the road supporting Harris gave her the impression that the Democrat would win.  Former First Lady Jill Biden said in Monday's episode of the Jay Shetty Podcast that she was 'just upset' when she left the room upon hearing Vice President Kamala Harris asked President Joe Biden for an immediate endorsement the day he dropped out of the 2024 race  'I saw the excitement,' she recalled. 'And I honestly believed that she was going to win.'  Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, were able to pack stadiums in the opening weeks of their campaign, Biden pointed out.  In her book, Biden wrote that she fell asleep on Election Night before the results were announced.  'I went into the kitchen at the White House, I was making coffee, feeding Willow and my phone rang. I had just thought she had won. And someone called me and said, "Did you see the news?"' Biden recalled to Shetty.  She said at the moment she 'knew' what had happened.  'I ran into the bedroom, and I said, "Joe, wake up." It was like 5 in the morning. "Wake up, why didn't you tell me?" He said, "Yeah, she lost,"' Biden said.  The former First Lady then asked Shetty if he thought Harris was going to win.  Former First Lady Jill Biden said she was convinced Vice President Kamala Harris (left) and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (right) would win the 2024 race because of the large crowds their campaign events attracted  He replied with a very candid response.  'It was pretty clear she wouldn't win,' Shetty said.  The podcaster explained that during the 2024 cycle, he spent a lot of time on TikTok.  'I was living the campaign through on TikTok. And it's more of a sense you got from seeing the level of support that the opposition had,' Shetty remarked.  'It was insane to look at, actually, in the build-up, even, and I was like, "Wow, this is big." You'd see posts that had an insane amount of likes, comments, and engagement that was all pro-Trump,' the podcaster recalled.  Biden said she was gauging how the Democratic ticket was doing offline. 'I wasn't monitoring that,' the former First Lady said. 'I was monitoring the crowds and response and I guess that was my barometer.'  Biden softening what she wrote about Harris comes after she called former White House spokesperson Andrew Bates to apologize after she blasted comments he made during the DC stop on her book tour earlier this month.  Bates had publicly questioned the timing of her memoir's release, as the Democrats head into the all-important midterm races.  'I want to say to Andrew, call me up and say it to my face,' she said during an appearance at the Sixth and I Synagogue.   The quip shocked many who had worked in the Biden administration, as Bates was considered one of President Biden's most loyal aides.   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.