Jill Biden caught herself during a Wednesday event at the White House after making a remark about the “joy” Americans are feeling as the holiday season begins following the 2024 election. She later claimed attendees were “reading into” her comments.
The first lady was speaking at a conference on advancing women’s health research when she veered into a discussion about holiday joy — a term previously associated with Vice President Kamala Harris’ short-lived campaign.
“You’re all reading into that!” Jill Biden, 73, exclaimed after referencing the post-election “joy” of the season, eliciting laughter from the audience. She had earlier encouraged attendees to take in the White House décor and “feel, I don’t know, a little, a sense of joy. Because I think we all need like this, you know, we all need to feel joy now.”
The remark comes amid ongoing speculation about tension between Jill Biden and Vice President Harris, 60, who succeeded President Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee but ultimately lost to Donald Trump.
The White House has consistently denied reports of private friction between the Biden family and Harris, despite recent public moments that fueled rumors. At Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors, President Biden and Jill Biden appeared to avoid acknowledging Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, even as they stood next to each other during the event. A source told The Post that the couples did not interact throughout the evening.
The night before, however, Jill Biden had a brief and reportedly pleasant conversation with Trump, 78, at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Trump later described the interaction to The Post: “Very nice. She couldn’t have been nicer. It’s politics. You have to get used to it. She was very nice and we had a very nice conversation.”
During the conference on women’s health, President Joe Biden, 82, also spoke, joking about his past brain surgeries. “I had two nine-hour operations. Took the top of my head off twice, couldn’t find the brain the first time,” he quipped, drawing laughs.
The president also hinted at his and Jill’s future plans, vowing to “fight like hell” even after leaving the White House next month. “We’re not going away,” he said, potentially signaling their intent to remain active in politics.
