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First Lady Jill Biden is beginning “a long, heartfelt goodbye” as she navigates what’s next after President Joe Biden, her husband, dropped out of the 2024 race.
The Washington Post published a gushing piece about how Jill and Joe Biden are handling their remaining months in the White House as Vice President Kamala Harris will take on former President Donald Trump in November’s election.
“It almost certainly won’t be the last campaign speech she delivers, and it wasn’t goodbye. It was more like the start of a long goodbye, and the last time she’d address a Democratic National Convention as a first lady. And what she said was emblematic of how she has approached her role for the past almost four years: focused not on herself, but on the president and the one she hopes will succeed him,” the WaPo reported.
“There has never been a time in Jill’s marriage when her husband wasn’t running for office — or, at least, dreaming of the possibility. She often tells the story about rejecting Biden’s marriage proposal several times. He was already a U.S. senator when they met. It would mean a public life and its attendant scrutiny. It would mean public speaking, something she initially resisted. She’d wanted her own career, which she ultimately got: Jill has taught for some 40 years, including for her entire tenures as second and first lady,” the outlet added.
“Jill’s final weeks as a campaign spouse were a crucible of that life in the spotlight. She spent the first two weeks of June on red-eyes between Paris and Wilmington, Del., attending to official duties around the 80th anniversary of D-Day while supporting her family as her son Hunter faced trial for federal gun charges. For days, she sat in a federal courthouse as prosecutors played aloud excerpts from Hunter’s memoir, clutching her weeping daughter, Ashley, as they relived the worst days of Hunter’s debilitating drug addiction. Then it was back to Paris, all smiles and waves, for events alongside her husband and the French president and first lady,” the outlet added.
Jill Biden made her first formal announcement in late July following her husband’s announcement that he would not run for president in 2024.
The first lady expressed her “full of gratitude” for everyone who has supported her and her husband throughout his first three and a half years in office in a message on Wednesday night to X, the old Twitter. Additionally, she reaffirmed her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, who as of Monday had amassed enough delegates to be officially nominated by the Democratic Party.
“To those who never wavered, to those who refused to doubt, to those who always believed, my heart is full of gratitude,” read the statement. “Thank you for the trust you put in Joe—now it’s time to put that trust in Kamala.”
The First Lady’s X post also included a handwritten copy of the statement.
It was published minutes after the president gave his first speech to the country since withdrawing from the 2024 presidential campaign.
To those who never wavered, to those who refused to doubt, to those who always believed, my heart is full of gratitude.
Thank you for the trust you put in Joe—now it’s time to put that trust in Kamala.
Love,
Jill pic.twitter.com/NakOWknWlC— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) July 25, 2024
In the Oval Office speech, President Biden declared that he had withdrawn from the race in the “defense of democracy” and restated his support for Harris.
“I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt inspired us to reject fear,” Biden said.
“I revere this office, but I love my country more. It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title. I draw strength and find joy in working for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me, it’s about you. Your families, your futures. It’s about we the people. And we can never forget that. And I never have,” Biden added.
“I’ve made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point. On those rare moments in history, when the decisions we make now determine our fate of our nation and the world for decades to come, America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division,” the president said.
Biden continued, “We have to decide: Do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy. In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies but as, I mean, fellow Americans — can we do that? Does character in public life still matter? I believe you know the answer to these questions because I know you the American people, and I know this: We are a great nation because we are a good people. When you elected me to this office.”