Jill Biden’s team was told to downplay the rigor of her campaign schedule in 2020 to avoid an unflattering comparison with her husband’s slower pace, a bombshell report revealed Wednesday.
The first lady campaigned in more counties than President Joe Biden during the 2020 Iowa caucuses—a fact that her former press secretary, Michael LaRosa, touted to a local reporter in the state, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But after highlighting this information, Anthony Bernal, Jill Biden’s chief of staff and deputy campaign manager, told LaRosa to call the reporter back and downplay any comparison between the Bidens’ campaign appearances.
LaRosa said the official line from the larger Biden campaign was clear. “The more you talk her up, the more you make him look bad,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal report detailed the efforts of Biden’s staff to shield the press and lawmakers from the reality of the effects of his age beginning as early as the 2020 Iowa caucuses, when he was 77 years old. Jill Biden is his junior by eight years.
Biden was sequestered in a small bubble of loyal aides who often fielded talks with senior officials and cabinet members instead of Biden himself, the Journal reported. This was a departure from past presidents and even Biden himself as a vice president.
Biden’s insulated inner circle was first attributed to protecting the president from contracting Covid, but didn’t change once the pandemic ended.
“They body him to such a high degree,” one person told The Journal.
Sources told the Journal that Biden met with his cabinet infrequently and didn’t include them in policymaking decisions. Rather, cabinet members would be told what do to and expected to carry it out, senior cabinet aides said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were among those filtered through advisers, sources said.
“If I had an issue or I needed attention on something, I had multiple avenues to explore to raise the issue,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “You don’t always have to raise the issue with the president.”
When it came to his 2024 campaign, donors said they saw staff hand-hold Biden through events. In one instance, donors were told to ask pre-approved questions Biden had prepared for. He still flubbed the answers, which “confounded” the donors.
This continued until Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June. After repeated calls to exit the 2024 race, Biden stepped down in July and passed the mantle to Kamala Harris, who Trump defeated in November.
