Democrats re-examine past narratives surrounding the health of former President Joe Biden following a Wednesday confession from former first lady Dr. Jill Biden, admitting that she thought Joe was having a stroke during his 2024 presidential debate.
Although Dr. Jill told CBS News that she had been “frightened” while watching Joe’s nationally broadcast breakdown — which led to Joe being pulled from the Democratic nomination — she acted slyly in the moment, even leading the sitting president to a post-debate visit to a Waffle House in Atlanta. (RELATED: Biden Sues DOJ To Block Release Of Audio Files. Trump Responds)
When asked about how his performance went while at the famed southern dinner — known for its frequent WWE-style brawls and rarely closing during natural disasters — Joe told a reporter that he thinks he did well, as Dr. Jill can be seen taking a cup from the president.
When another journalist followed up, asking Joe if he had any concerns about his performance, he said no, adding that “It’s hard to debate a liar.”
Biden stops at an Atlanta Waffle House after the debate.
Reporter: Do you have any concerns about your performance?
Biden: No. It’s hard to debate a liar. pic.twitter.com/aMA0zeKBsP
— MS NOW (@MSNOWNews) June 28, 2024
However, many Democrats found the cover-up of Joe’s health from this moment on as infuriating, and find Dr. Jill’s sudden flip-flop to be even more so.
“Unfortunately, when you wait this long to tell your own story in your own words, it’s extremely hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube. She owed it to herself to be candid and transparent in the moment or in the days after,” Dr. Jill’s former communications director, Michael LaRosa, told the New York Post.
Former first lady @DrBiden said she was “frightened” by her husband Joe Biden’s performance at the 2024 presidential debate.
“As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death,” Biden told CBS News Sunday Morning’s Rita Braver in an… pic.twitter.com/1wS5oGDYyX
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) May 27, 2026
“Penning books doesn’t cut it anymore,” LaRosa added, saying that she had already been given the chance to shape public perception about herself and that time.
The full interview with Dr. Jill is set to premiere Sunday and previews the Tuesday release of her new memoir, “View From the East Wing.”
Former Obama staffer and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor called out the book, suggesting that its only goal is to “dispel accusations of a cover-up.”
He continued, suggesting that it was jarring to read that Dr. Jill herself had thought Joe may have been drugged or short-circuited while his family, campaign, and supporters “savaged people for articulating the same feelings.”
Apparently the goal of this book is to dispel accusations of a coverup, but mostly its just enraging to read that this was JILL BIDEN’S(!!) reaction to the debate performance after the Biden family, campaign, and his supporters savaged people for articulating the same feelings. pic.twitter.com/MsSQb8uBeL
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) May 28, 2026
Vietor’s co-host, Jon Favreau, shared a similar view, saying that although he had agreed with Dr. Jill’s actual assessment — which he described as what “people who could see and hear” believed — the Bidens and their campaign had said that those who raised questions were “all wildly overreacting and that his debate performance was fine — even good!”
And it wasn’t just Dr. Jill. Joe’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, dismissed reporters who asked whether Joe had spoken with a doctor or taken a neurological scan following the debate.
Notable that, after the debate, the White House’s top spokesperson mocked and dismissed the idea Biden would have received a neurological scan – which is the exact kind of thing you would probably do if your wife thinks you had a stroke https://t.co/Go4sBf66Dk pic.twitter.com/W83JMc6lCz
— Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) May 27, 2026
“What I can say is that … just to take a step back,” Jean-Pierre said at the time. “It was a bad night. We understand that it was a bad night, and the president has spoken to this, and he understands that.”