Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany accused former first lady Jill Biden of misleading Americans about President Joe Biden’s debate performance during the 2024 campaign.
McEnany made the accusations Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” responding to comments attributed to Jill Biden in her upcoming book. The debate in question became a pivotal moment in the 2024 election cycle, prompting widespread concerns about the president’s fitness for office.
What McEnany Said
Co-host Dana Perino highlighted an apparent contradiction between Jill Biden’s immediate reaction to the debate and her more recent account. At a campaign event immediately after the debate, Jill Biden told the president, “Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question.”
McEnany argued this reaction contradicted Jill Biden’s later descriptions of the event. “That is not the reaction of someone who believes they just watched their husband have a stroke. It is an absolute lie,” McEnany said.
McEnany also accused the former first lady of concealing health concerns from voters. “What she did was fraud on the American public and she’s continuing it by saying she had never seen him like that before or after,” she stated.
The Broader Allegations
McEnany referenced reporting by veteran journalist Carl Bernstein, who previously stated that people close to Biden had observed similar episodes before the debate. “They said it had happened 15 or 20 times prior, him losing his train of thought,” McEnany said.
According to McEnany’s account of Bernstein’s reporting, the journalist described a fundraiser where Biden “froze up and seemed to have some type of rigor mortis.” McEnany emphasized that concerns about Biden’s condition were not isolated incidents.
McEnany questioned why Jill Biden continued publicly defending her husband after the debate. “So why did she keep up with the fraud on the American people?” she asked.
The Context
The June 2024 debate between Biden and President Donald Trump intensified existing questions about the president’s age and mental acuity. Following the debate, multiple Democratic officials and allies publicly expressed concerns about Biden’s performance and viability as a candidate.
Jill Biden has repeatedly defended her husband and rejected claims that she or his inner circle concealed health concerns, according to reports. The debate performance ultimately contributed to Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race in July 2024.
Neither Jill Biden nor representatives for the former president immediately responded to McEnany’s accusations. Questions about what Biden’s family, advisers and Democratic leaders knew about his condition continue to dominate political discourse as new accounts emerge.
This story has been updated. CNN’s political team contributed to this report.
