Jill Biden says she feared the worst as she watched her husband struggle through the debate performance that ultimately helped end his reelection campaign.
In a new interview with CBS News, the former first lady revealed that she believed then-President Joe Biden might be suffering a serious medical episode during his June 27, 2024 debate against Donald Trump.
“I was frightened, because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden said.
When asked what she thought was happening, she said: “I don’t know what happened. As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”
Former First Lady Jill Biden said she was “frightened” by President Joe Biden’s performance during the 2024 presidential debate. pic.twitter.com/fyBh7k7DSq
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 27, 2026
The debate became one of the defining political moments of the 2024 campaign.
Biden repeatedly stumbled over answers, appeared to lose his train of thought and delivered responses that fueled growing concerns about his age and fitness for office. The performance sparked an immediate wave of panic among Democrats and intensified calls for him to step aside.
Less than a month later, Biden withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. He became the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to abandon a reelection campaign.
The comments stand in stark contrast to the public posture Jill Biden adopted immediately after the debate.
Following the event, she joined her husband at an Atlanta Waffle House stop and sought to reassure nervous supporters.
“Joe – you did such a great job,” she said. “You answered every question, you knew all the facts.”
Former First Lady Jill Biden previously said she thought then-President Biden did a “great job” after his 2024 debate. She now tells CBS News that she thought he was “having a stroke.” https://t.co/JVINZzMu0h pic.twitter.com/O2e7mgsSIo
— Akayla Gardner (@gardnerakayla) May 27, 2026
The new remarks are part of an upcoming CBS News interview airing Sunday as Jill Biden promotes her memoir, View from the East Wing, which is scheduled for release next week.
For Democrats still dissecting the party’s 2024 defeat, the admission is likely to reignite questions about what aides, advisers and family members knew about Biden’s condition in the months leading up to the debate.
More over at The New York Post:
Jill Biden shockingly admits she thought Joe was 'having a stroke' during disastrous 2024 debate with Trump https://t.co/Fmw3iIsBI9 pic.twitter.com/oxBcjWWpaR
— New York Post (@nypost) May 27, 2026
