In the span of a week, Jill Biden’s memoir generated negative headlines for her family and the Democratic Party. Now her husband has announced his own book, timed to drop right before the midterms, and their former officials are left wondering why.
The former first lady released her memoir Tuesday, detailing her time in the White House and also her defense of former President Joe Biden’s time in the White House. She’s hit the media circuit promoting the book, but the interviews haven’t been easy. Jill has faced tough questions about Biden’s fitness for office and whether she really believed he was having a medical issue during the 2024 presidential debate. (RELATED: Jill Biden Fretted Over People Realizing Joe Was Getting Old)
Amid it all, Biden crashed one of his wife’s book events, looking frail, and announced that his book would release in September. Right before the 2026 midterms.
Former Biden-Harris White House officials expressed some worry to the Daily Caller about the timing.
“I would just say that no discussion about 2024 is helpful. It is either a neutral or a negative, but it does not move the needle in a positive direction,” one former official told the Caller. The former Biden-Harris staffer added that they did think the timing of the first lady’s book was fine and likely will be out of the news cycle by July.
“I would also say that it is better for them to release these books now than next year during a presidential when we’re already going to be organically talking about President Biden and his administration,” the official added.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden depart a World AIDS Day event on the South Lawn at the White House on December 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden spoke about the administration’s work to advance policy solutions for the HIV/AIDS epidemic. (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Getty Images)
Five months out from the 2026 midterms, Republicans are not in a strong position. The president’s battle in the Middle East with Iran has continued to drag on and prices remain high. Democrats, for their part, aren’t in any stronger of a position, but have let the focus remain on President Donald Trump’s White House.
With the release of the former first lady’s book, the party has had to relive painful moments that helped propel Trump to victory in 2024.
In her first interview about her book, the former first lady said she thought her husband was having a stroke during his disastrous 2024 debate with Trump. Social media users pointed out that following the debate, Jill Biden went with her husband to Waffle House.
The former first lady then faced questions on why she would do so if she really thought Biden was having a stroke.
“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 re-opened right now,” Andrew Bates, a former White House spokesperson for President Joe Biden, told the Caller in a statement.
“All the same, the midterms will be a referendum on Republicans’ broken promises to end inflation and stop wars. The American people know Donald Trump and his corrupt rubber stamps in Congress sold them out, which is why their support is collapsing and Joe Biden’s numbers are climbing,” he added.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden dance during a dinner on the South Lawn of the White House on November 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Bidens are hosting a dinner to thank longtime supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Shortly after the Bidens left the White House, NBC News reported that they wanted to get back into politics. The former president reportedly met with Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin to discuss what role he could play. The outlet also reported that Biden was working on a book.
That book is now expected to come out in September, according to Biden.
Despite there being no more details on the book or its contents, it has former staffers worried.
“I do hear concern from folks about the timing of Joe Biden’s book, President Biden’s book, and if it will be a little bit of a negative, like that is concerning. I think September is cutting it close,” the former Biden-Harris official told the Caller.