Social media lit up after First Lady Jill Biden made an appearance and spoke during what may be one of President Biden’s final Cabinet meetings at the White House.
On Friday, President Biden convened his Cabinet for the first time since October 2023, with Jill Biden joining him to discuss the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. This marks the first time the First Lady has participated in such a meeting, and her presence drew significant attention.
Explaining why Jill Biden was there, President Biden said, “Here and across previous administrations, first ladies have attended these meetings for specific reasons. This is the first time Jill has joined us, and it goes to show how important the issue is, which she is about to speak to.” He concluded by handing the floor to her, saying, “It’s all yours, kid.”
Jill Biden then spoke for four-and-a-half minutes about maternal health initiatives, according to The New York Post, while the president spoke for just two minutes at the start of the meeting. The last known instance of a first lady attending her husband’s Cabinet meeting was during Hillary Clinton’s time in the White House.
The influence Jill Biden may have over President Biden and his administration has been a frequent topic of discussion, and many commentators took to social media to criticize her role in the meeting. Greg Price, a digital strategist, compared Jill Biden to Edith Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson, who controlled access to her husband after he suffered a stroke in 1919. “She’s literally Edith Wilson except right out in the open in a 24/7 news cycle and nobody in the media cares,” Price remarked.
Steve Cortes, a former adviser to Donald Trump, also commented, “Wow. A visibly exhausted Joe Biden just held a full Cabinet meeting for the first time in 11 months and immediately turned the mic over to his wife, Jill.” He added, “Who is running the country?”
Political commentator Kate Hyde expressed her concerns, tweeting, “Jill Biden is kicking off the first Cabinet meeting the White House has had in almost a year and we’re expected to act like this is normal.”
Podcaster Tim Young speculated on the First Lady’s role, saying, “Jill Biden is the head of the table at the Cabinet meeting. No one voted for her to be there… this must be part of her deal to have Joe drop out of the race. She has no reason to be there.”
The First Lady’s appearance also drew sarcastic responses from figures like Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, who said, “I wasn’t aware that our constitutional system of government bestowed any power whatsoever to the unelected wife of the figurehead president.” The Hill columnist T. Becket Adams echoed the sentiment, stating, “It’s insane that the world’s #1 nuclear superpower just sort of stumbled its way into a power vacuum… and that the vacuum has been filled by the former ruler’s wife, who holds no legal governing authority.”
Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., reacted by simply asking, “Is this real? Is this who’s running the country?”
The White House responded to the backlash, with deputy press secretary Andrew Bates defending the First Lady’s involvement. “Before President Biden updated his Cabinet and the country on the continued achievements of the most successful administration in modern history, he asked the First Lady to join for the top of the meeting to showcase groundbreaking work they are leading to fundamentally change how we fund and approach women’s health research,” Bates told Fox News Digital.
He added, “If the only response these critics have are conspiracy theories that devalue historic progress researching women’s health – including terrible diseases – then that says a lot about why more and more American women feel that the right couldn’t care less about them, including as it pushes radical abortion bans.” Bates also took a dig at Hawley’s actions during the January 6 Capitol riots.
As the debate rages online, the First Lady’s role in future White House affairs will undoubtedly continue to be a topic of scrutiny.
