Jonathan Roman | Staff Writer 

Former First Lady Jill Biden stopped in Temple Beth Am in Miami to promote her latest book, View from the East Wing. The book is about Mrs. Biden’s time as the 46th First Lady. 

Mrs. Biden began her book stop by reading an excerpt from the book, after Ana Navarro, co-host of The View, began with the sit down. 

Navarro mentioned President Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis. Biden was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer last year. The news shocked Americans across the country, since Mr. Biden had an around the clock medical team. However, Mrs. Biden described that Mr. Biden would get up seven times a night to use the restroom, and after leaving the white house she called Jefferson Hospital to make an appointment for Biden. After a series of tests Mr. Biden was finally diagnosed with prostate cancer that had metastasized to his bones. 

Navaro asked Mrs. Biden “Why the hell is anybody bothered by you writing a book when everybody else has written a book and they weren’t married to the guy?”

Mrs. Biden replied with “Well, that’s true,” Biden added she did not want to rehash everything, adding that it hurt her to see the 2024 CNN debate moment, reiterating “I thought he was having a stroke.” Mrs. Biden said, “I don’t want to relive it. I think Democrats do want to move on and I think we’re going in a really good positive direction.” 

Mrs. Biden added Mr. Biden knew how terrible his debate performance was. She described Mr Biden saying, “Jill, I really screwed up, didn’t I?” 

Mrs. Biden described it as an “aberration” adding after the debate they went on to hit three different campaign rallies.

Photo by Jonathan Roman, PantherNow

The conversation switched from the debate to the week leading up to the moment Mrs. Biden described it as the “Hunter Biden Trial.”

She began candidly by saying, “My son was a drug addict, and he signed a paper when he purchased a gun saying he was not under the influence, which he was.” She continued, “he never used the gun and had it for eleven days.” She went on to say that her son has been sober for eleven years.

Navarro then asked Mrs. Biden about President Donald Trump and his constant attacks against the Biden Department of Justice. Navaroo said, “The irony to me is that he is constantly talking about how the DOJ was weaponized against their enemies. And I would argue Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice was weaponized against the Bidens,” Navarro added, “I think Marrick Garland was the worst cabinet appointment that Joe Biden made. I’m saying it. She’s not.” Mrs. Biden replied, “for those who are a little bit older like I am, you grew up with civic classes.” She added that her generation learned there were three branches of government, separate but equal, which she said Joe Biden believed in, so it wasn’t possible he’d interfere with the Justice Department. “No way.” Mrs. Biden added, “I think Hunter was really hurt by the process.”  

In the book Mrs. Biden described watching the demolishing of the east wing of the White House. An area that Mrs. Biden had renovated before Trump returned to the White House. 

In the book she writes, “A major landmark and historic treasure was being treated like an extreme fixer upper on HGTV’s property bothers.” Mrs Biden said, “I deliberately put the art of military children as the first thing that you would see as you walk down the hallway because that was important to me and Joe as we are a military family.” She added, “the next thing there were pictures of all the administrations and they were static. I made it so that they would move so that you could see all different pictures from each administration.” 

Mrs. Biden said, “ I worked with the History Channel, people learn with their sense, so, as you went through the tour, you could feel the marble. You could hear FDR’s voice on the radio. You could go into the rooms and see what it felt like.” She added, “So, I watched as all of you did the gutting of the east wing no permission. Just gutting it…it was heartbreaking.” 

The conversation then focused on the pressure campaign that formed after the CNN debate. The fallout resulted in President Biden dropping out, after weeks of holding out. Mrs. Biden described the weeks after the debate as “hurtful” when lifelong friends started publicly pushing for the President to step aside. Mrs. Biden said “Joe and I had for over you know 50 years that’s a long time 50 years and when people started saying things about Joe publicly and it was…it was really hurtful.” 

Mrs. Biden said they were at their Delaware Beach house, as Mr. Biden recovered from covid. The night before he dropped out of the race she asked Mr. Biden how he was feeling about the race Mr Biden said, “Jilly I have no choice.” She added, “And that was it. I mean, that was it. He had no choice.” 

Mrs. Biden also opened up about Beau Biden and her relationship with her faith since losing her son to glioblastoma, brain cancer. She described how doctors assured her, “this is going to turn around” she describes praying; she said, “I prayed to god, you know, take me, take me, don’t take my child. She added she “never believed he was going to die.”  Mrs. Biden says at a campaign stop in South Carolina, a pastor’s wife kneeled beside her and stated she wanted to be her prayer partner; Mrs Biden gave the woman her number saying, “God had sent her to me to say ok Jill, it’s time you need to come back to the church.”

Later in the conversation Navarro brought up the last minute controversial pardons Joe Biden issued as president. Mr. Biden pardoned his son Hunter after previously stating he wouldn’t do so. Mrs. Biden said, “You know, Joe said he would never pardon Hunter. He said that for a long time. But then because Trump was elected he said, ‘I’m gonna go after Hunter Biden. I’m gonna put him in jail’, and we knew the process was not going to be fair to our son.” She added, “It was Joe’s decision but there was no way we were going to let him go to jail.” 

When asked about the next stage of her life, Mrs. Biden stated she had been prioritizing women’s health for some time. Mrs. Biden added she plans to go into prisons and work with convicted women to get their GED, or plan ways to get into the workforce; she went on to say, “Joe and I want to work on cancer together, it’s a good chapter.” 

The night ended with a hopeful message from Mrs. Biden. When asked by Navarro what “characteristics should we be looking for, or are you looking for that would make a good president?” Mrs. Biden replied with integrity, empathy, and trust; she stated, “it’s not the characteristics of a man, but of the American people.” When asked if she’s proud of this country Mrs Biden said, “of course I’m proud of my country, I love my country, I’m sure everyone in this audience loves this country.” 

Mrs. Biden ended the night by saying, “I do feel that things are going to turn around, Americans are survivors. And I really think that even though this is a really tough time and sometimes it feels so crazy, we’re going to go on and be stronger than we ever have before.” 

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