Report: Jill Biden slammed husband, aides for extending 2022 press conference

After President Joe Biden delivered a protracted news conference back in 2022, first lady Jill Biden was so irate that she reprimanded him and his aides and demanded to know why no one intervened, as Fox News reports.

"Where were you guys?" she asked the aides, according to a new book. "Where was the person who was going to end the press conference?"

About the Book

Author Katie Rogers states in her forthcoming book American Woman, which explores the experiences of contemporary first ladies, that Jill Biden confronted her husband and his advisers following the news conference on Jan. 19, 2022, which was a year since he had taken office.

Biden addressed a wide range of subjects throughout the nearly two-hour conference, but he occasionally erred in conveying factual information and retaliated angrily at a reporter who cited his prior remarks equating political opponents to segregationists.

"She had watched the news conference, and the look on her face told everyone in the room — from the president on down — that they had some explaining to do," Rogers wrote in a book excerpt reported by Axios. "'Why didn't anyone stop that?' she demanded."

Rogers' account asserts that the first lady's reaction bowed even her husband into silence. "Everyone stayed silent, looking at one another, and then at her, and back to one another," the author explained.

"That included the most powerful man in the world. Her husband essentially played along, not offering an answer, even though aides had slipped him a card suggesting he end the press conference," Rogers wrote.

The author added in her own report for the New York Times that officials "later apologized to her, according to an account of the episode shared by a person in the room."

Joe's Protector

According to the book, Jill Biden is the president's "fiercest protector," implying that she intends to shield him from any difficult situations.

She also knows "how much the job is draining him" due to the fact that he returns to the official residence each evening with briefing books.

Reporting on the book has surfaced in the wake of the White House's most challenging public moments to date, during which the administration worked to maintain a defensive stance regarding the president's advanced age and doubts about his cognitive health.

Amid allegations of substantial memory lapses during his interview for a special counsel probe of concerning his management of classified documents, Biden responded Thursday night with a rare, nationally televised primetime address and press conference, during which he attempted to defend himself and his actions.