Jill Biden Reveals She Feared Joe Biden Was Having a Stroke During 2024 Presidential Debate

Jill Biden is speaking candidly about the night that effectively ended her husband’s reelection bid — and she says her first instinct was that something was medically wrong.

In an interview with Rita Braver for CBS News Sunday Morning, the former first lady, 74, revealed she believed former president Joe Biden was suffering a stroke as she watched his widely criticized June 2024 presidential debate performance against President Donald Trump.

“I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill told Braver, as reported by CBS News.

The former first lady described the moment in stark terms, recalling the fear that gripped her in real time. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death,” she said, per the outlet.

Joe, 83, was seeking a second term when he struggled through the debate, delivering a performance that alarmed members of his own party and triggered a wave of calls for him to exit the race.

Trump, 79, went on to face Vice President Kamala Harris after Joe stepped aside in July 2024 — just 107 days before the general election. Harris, 61, had received Biden’s endorsement as the Democratic nominee. Joe became the first sitting president to withdraw from a presidential race since President Lyndon B. Johnson opted not to seek reelection in March 1968.

The interview, which is set to air in full on Sunday, May 31, also covers Biden’s forthcoming book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir. The wide-ranging conversation reportedly touches on the election, her marriage and her life after leaving the White House, per the outlet.