First lady Jill Biden once admonished President Joe Biden's staff — in front of him — for not ending a gaffe-laden press conference that went on for nearly two hours early in 2022.
That according to an excerpt, obtained by Axios, from a new book written by New York Times reporter Katie Rogers titled "American Woman."
On Jan. 19, 2022. Joe Biden was gathered in the executive residence with his staff following a marathon press conference, during which he spouted several factual errors, according to the excerpt.
"Why didn't anyone stop that?" Jill Biden demanded. "Where were you guys? Where was the person who was going to end the press conference?"
Joe Biden didn't speak up "even though aides had slipped him a card suggesting he end the press conference," according to Rogers' book.
The episode, Rogers wrote, "illustrated the degree to which she is her husband's fiercest protector."
Rogers wrote that Jill Biden was acutely aware of how the presidency was "draining" Joe Biden, and that was two years ago.
On Thursday, special counsel Robert Hur released a report that exonerated Joe Biden from any legal exposure over "willfully" retaining and disclosing highly confidential files after his eight years as vice president but unleashed a firestorm after characterizing the president as an "elderly man with a poor memory."
Joe Biden went on to excoriate Hur during a prime-time press briefing later Thursday, insisting his memory was fine, before mixing up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico. Biden has also spoke recently of conversations with Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl despite both being dead.
The White House on Friday unleashed a full-on attack on Biden's own Justice Department over the report, calling it "politically motivated," "gratuitous," and "inappropriate."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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