first lady Jill Biden has said her husband had “so much hope” when he took office, but that there were “problems of the moment” that needed to be addressed first — both at home and abroad.
Biden, 71, spoke at a fundraising campaign for the Democratic National Committee in Nantucket, Massachusettson Saturday.
‘[The President] had so many hopes and plans for things he wanted to do, but every time you turned around, he had to deal with the issues of the moment,” she told donors at the event.
“He just got so many things in his way,” she added.
During his presidency, Joe Biden has dealt with the Russian war in Ukraine, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, soaring inflation and the overthrow of Roe v. Wade.
The first lady’s comments come after a recent New York Times poll showed that 64 percent of Democratic voters would prefer a candidate other than Biden by 2024.
First lady Jill Biden speaks Friday at the American Federation of Teachers convention. The next day she spoke about the challenges her husband had faced during his presidency
The first lady’s comments come after a recent New York Tims poll showed that 64 percent of Democratic voters would prefer a candidate other than Biden by 2024.
‘Who would have ever thought about what happened? [with the Supreme Court overturning] Roe to Wade? Well, maybe we saw it coming, but still we didn’t believe it,” she said. “The gun violence in this country is just appalling. We didn’t see the war in Ukraine coming.’
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday, Biden’s approval rating was 33 percent and only 13 percent of Americans thought the country was moving in the right direction.
“I know there are so many naysayers who say we’re going to get cheated on midterm exams. Okay. The Republicans work hard, they stick together, for better or for worse. So we just have to work harder,” said Jill Biden.
Biden, 71, spoke Saturday at a fundraising campaign for the Democratic National Committee in Nantucket, Massachusetts
Setbacks at home and abroad also impacted Jill Biden’s own agenda.
“I said to myself, ‘Okay, I was Second Lady. I worked at community colleges. I worked on military families. I’ve worked on cancer.’ They had to be my areas of focus. But when we… [in the White House,] With everything that happened, I had to be the First Lady of the moment.’
Jill Biden was on a three-day trip in Massachusetts when she made the comments.
Early Sunday, her husband returned to the… White House from his four-day tour of the Middle East
Joe Biden had accused a Saudi official of lying about the topics discussed during his private meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while again downplaying his infamous fist against the prince.
The image of the friendly fist punch drew harsh reactions from the Washington Post editor and the widow of Khashoggi, who was killed in a gruesome murder ordered by bin Salman, US intelligence officials say.
President Joe Biden has accused a Saudi minister of lying about the topics discussed during his private meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
A handed out photo of President Joe Biden (left) punching Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) with his fist as he arrived for a Friday night meeting with the controversial royal in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah
Hours earlier, just after Air Force One took off from Jeddah, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir called a Fox news reporter and claimed he “didn’t hear” Biden confront bin Salman, known as MBS, over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Al-Jubeir’s claim appears to directly contradict Biden’s account of Friday’s meeting with MBS, after which the president said he had raised Khashoggi’s murder “at the top of the meeting” and accused the crown prince of leading of the plot.
On the South Lawn, when asked if al-Jubeir was telling the truth about the meeting, Biden answered bluntly “No.”
Notably, Saudi officials have offered conflicting stories about the conversation between Biden and MBS, and whether Khashoggi’s murder was discussed.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (above) claimed he ‘didn’t hear’ Biden confront MBS over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
On Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan appeared to be telling reporters: that Biden brought up Khashoggi’s murder at the meeting.
Bin Farhan said MBS responded by criticizing the US for its own human rights abuses, including the infamous beatings of prisoners by military personnel at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
A US intelligence report said MBS led the assassination of Khashoggi, a Saudi-born critic of the kingdom, who lived in the United States.
President Joe Biden arrives at Andrews Air Force Base late Saturday, at the end of a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia
Biden answers questions from reporters on the south lawn of the White House. Biden has just returned from a visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
After Biden punched MBS as he arrived for a series of Friday night gatherings at the Al Salman Royal Palace in Jeddah, Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post – which employed Khashoggi – called Biden’s fist bump with the crown prince “shameful.” .’
“The fistfight between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was embarrassing,” Ryan said in a statement. “It radiated a level of intimacy and comfort that MBS offers the unwarranted redemption he so desperately sought.”
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, shared what she thought her late love’s reaction would be to the punch: ‘Is this the responsibility you promised for my murder? The blood of the next victims of MBS is on your hands.’
Biden was also read to Cengiz’s comments by a reporter, who then asked for the president’s response.
“I’m sorry she feels that way,” the president replied. ‘I was direct then. I was clear today.’