JUNE 2, 2026
Jill Biden defends Joe Biden's 2024 candidacy and says she believes he would have defeated Trump
Former first lady Jill Biden conducted a media tour in late May and early June 2026 promoting her memoir, "View From The East Wing," in which she discussed the 2024 presidential election, Joe Biden's debate performance, and the family's experience with his withdrawal from the race. She stated in a Tuesday appearance on Morning Joe that she believes Joe Biden would have defeated Donald Trump had he remained the nominee. Joe Biden was diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer in May 2025, which has since spread to his bones.
Jill Biden made a series of television appearances promoting her memoir, offering her most detailed public account to date of the 2024 campaign, Joe Biden's June 2024 debate performance, and the family's reaction to his eventual withdrawal from the race on July 21, 2024.
In the book and in interviews, she described watching her husband during the debate and said she was "frightened," fearing he was experiencing a medical episode of some kind. She told NBC's "Today" that after the debate she had to "lift him up," adding, "I'm his wife. I'm not going to get out on the stage there and say, 'Joe, you really screwed that up.'" The disclosure has drawn criticism from some Democrats and former White House aides who noted her public defense of Biden at the time of the debate.
On the question of whether Biden could have won, Jill Biden said flatly, "I believe he would have beat Donald Trump in that election." She also acknowledged the difficulty of the withdrawal, describing it as "so painful, not just for us, not just for me, and for Joe, but we have children and grandchildren" — and said she "would never want to put our family through that again." When asked whether Biden could have served a second term given his current health, she said, "I don't know the answer to that."