Former First Lady Jill Biden has revealed that she was surprised by comments made by former Vice President Kamala Harris about former President Joe Biden in Harris’ recently published memoir.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe while promoting her new book, View from the East Wing, Jill Biden addressed Harris’ assertion that Joe Biden’s ambition and decision-making contributed to Democrats’ loss in the 2024 presidential election.
“I was a little surprised she wrote that,” Jill Biden said, adding that she believed the Bidens and Harris worked effectively together. “Joe and Kamala, me, Doug, I thought we were a great team,” she said, referring to Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff.
Jill Biden emphasized that her husband fully supported Harris after ending his reelection campaign. “When Joe got out, he handed over the reins to Kamala,” she said. “He had full confidence in her.”
Despite Harris’ criticism in her memoir, Jill Biden indicated that relations between the two families remain cordial. She noted that Harris recently called to check on Joe Biden’s health, underscoring what she described as an ongoing friendship.
The interview also focused on revelations from Jill Biden’s forthcoming memoir regarding her husband’s health during his final year in the White House. In excerpts published ahead of the book’s release, she writes that Joe Biden began experiencing persistent nighttime health issues, including frequent trips to the bathroom.
Jill Biden recalls expressing concern to doctors and trusting that the president would receive appropriate medical care. At the time, she believed the symptoms were a common part of aging and never suspected they could be linked to cancer.
Following Joe Biden’s diagnosis with advanced prostate cancer after leaving office, Jill Biden said she struggled to understand how the disease had progressed despite the extensive medical resources available to a sitting president.
“The question became: how was it possible that the president of the United States … could wind up with cancer so advanced?” she writes, describing her disbelief that the illness was not detected earlier.
