Jill Biden thought her husband, former US president Joe Biden, was “having a stroke” during his 2024 presidential debate with US President Donald Trump (then-Republican nominee), according to a CBS interview on Wednesday.
The former first lady told CBS that the former president’s debate performance “frightened” her, saying, “I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since.”
“I don’t know what happened,” said Jill Biden. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”
Joe Biden, 81 years old at the time of the debate, was under intense pressure to avoid verbal stumbles and deliver a forceful debate performance after months of Republican assertions that his faculties had dulled with age.
A CBS poll at the time found that 72% of registered voters believed Joe Biden should not be running for president, citing his campaigning, effectiveness in office, and his age.
Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential race on July 21, 2024, endorsing then vice-president Kamala Harris as his replacement, who eventually lost to Trump.
White House: Trump’s health ‘excellent’
On Friday, Trump’s physician said in a memo released by the White House that the president is in “excellent health.”
The memo cited examination results from earlier this week indicating that 79-year-old Trump is experiencing “slight lower leg swelling” and “benign” hand bruising.
The memo added that Trump is “fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”
The visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was Trump’s third in 13 months.
Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.
