Jill Biden Reveals Husband Joe Told Her ‘I Had No Choice’ After Ending 2024 Presidential Campaign

Dr. Jill Biden is opening up about the private conversation she had with her husband, former president Joe Biden, on the night he decided to end his 2024 presidential campaign.

The 46th president, 83, announced in July 2024 that he was suspending his reelection campaign and endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris to run against now President Donald Trump — a decision that came after a rocky debate performance that fueled questions about his age and fitness for office.

Jill discussed the moment during the third installment of her appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, which was released on Wednesday, August 26. Jill, 75, insisted the choice to run again, and later to step aside, was entirely her husband’s own, despite rumors she had influenced it.

Recalling a conversation at their Delaware beach house, she said Joe asked directly for her opinion.

“And I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘You make this decision yourself,'” Jill recalled. “I said, ‘Whatever decision is made, you have to be able to live with it the rest of your life.’ And I said, ‘I am not gonna weigh in for or against.’ And I kept true to that.”

She said their conversation continued later that night in their bedroom, after Joe had made his decision.

“I can remember, you know, going upstairs that night and getting in bed,” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Joe, you know, how are you doing?’ And he grabbed my hand, and he said, ‘Jilly, I had no choice.'”

Jill told host Jamie Kern Lima, “I thought what he did was heroic. I mean, he gave up everything.”

The former first lady also pointed to what she called the irony of the moment, noting that Joe was simultaneously negotiating the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who had been detained in Russia and was freed in a prisoner exchange weeks later in August 2024.

“And I thought … Look at the irony of this,” she said. “He’s resigning from office because people don’t feel he can do the job. At the same moment, he’s arranging for the release of a hostage. He’s doing the job so well that he’s getting this hostage released.”

Jill added that she remains “really proud” of her husband, saying, “I knew how hard it would be, but he did it.”