When Was Jill Lying? How She Went From ‘He’s Fine’ To ‘I Thought He Was Having A Stroke.’

Former first lady Jill Biden, who consistently praised her husband’s capacity for the presidency in the 2024 campaign, finally admitted that she was “frightened” by her husband’s performance in his 2024 presidential debate against President Donald Trump.

In a clip of a soon-to-be-released CBS News interview, Jill Biden said that she “had never seen anything like it” when her husband faced off against Trump in June 2024, adding that she thought “he was having a stroke.”

“He was the same, the essence of the same Joe Biden, but yeah, he was slowing down. He was getting older,” she told CBS Sunday Morning’s correspondent Rita Braver. “It’s a very intense job. I think it ages you — quickly.”

She then confessed of her husband’s performance in the debate: “I was frightened because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never. I don’t know what happened. As I was watching it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”

But several other clips following the debate show the exact opposite. In one video, Jill Biden claimed that she saw no signs of her husband “falling into cognitive decline,” and that when people said he “wasn’t the same Joe Biden,” they were incorrect. Moments and even days later, she repeatedly assured everyone that “he did a great job.”

Immediately post-debate, Jill Biden said, “Joe, you did such a great job! You answered every question, you knew all the facts!” She also caught criticism for holding Joe Biden’s hand as he left the debate stage. 

Also Jill Biden right after former President Joe Biden’s debate performance…????@DailyCaller https://t.co/MXqj6NAop9 pic.twitter.com/eHAYgdJXUL

— Ashley Brasfield (@BrasfieldAshley) May 27, 2026

One day after the debate, she gushed, “There is no one right now that I would rather have sitting in the Oval Office than my husband. What you saw last night on the debate stage was Joe Biden, a president with integrity and character, who told the truth and Donald Trump told lie after lie after lie.”

Jill Biden the day after the debate in which she now says she thought Joe was having a stroke: “What you saw last night on the debate stage was Joe Biden, a president with integrity & character. Who told the truth, & Donald Trump told lie after lie after lie. Oh, you’re good,… pic.twitter.com/ke5bZ64TWv

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 27, 2026

Two days after the debate, Jill Biden told a crowd of donors at a Hamptons fundraiser that “Joe isn’t just the right person for the job. He’s the only person for the job.”

Roughly a week and a half after the debate, Jill Biden lashed out at reporters who asked her questions about the fallout from her husband’s performance.

“Dr. Biden, do you have any message to House Democrats who are calling for your husband to drop out of the race?” a reporter asked. “How are you feeling about the state of the race?”

“Why are you screaming at me?” Jill Biden responded. “You know me. Don’t scream at me, just let me talk.”

She then ignored the reporter, got in a vehicle, and left.

First lady Jill Biden to reporters:

“Why are you screaming at me? You know me. Don’t scream at me, just let me talk.” pic.twitter.com/Ubl9T2HGkD

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) July 8, 2024