Former Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) on Sunday said she was "surprised at the timing" of former first lady Jill Biden's interview about former President Joe Biden's health, nearly one and a half years after they left the White House.
Demings appeared on NBC News's "Meet the Press" and was asked about Jill Biden's recent remarks to CBS News's Rita Braver, in which she said she thought her husband was "having a stroke" during the infamous 2024 CNN debate against President Trump. The former first lady said Joe Biden's performance at that debate "horrified" her.
Jill Biden told Braver she was "frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since, never." She also noted that she noticed her husband was "slowing down" during his term in office but suggested he remained the same man with "the essence of the same Joe Biden."
What the Right Is Saying
Former spokesperson for Jill Biden, Michael LaRosa, offered a contrasting view on CNN's "Newsroom" on Sunday, saying the former first lady's recent remarks have damaged her credibility.
LaRosa argued that Jill Biden's interview invites Americans to ask if she was "telling the truth then or is she telling the truth now?" He pointed to the timing of Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race as evidence of broader concerns about transparency.
"They were essentially dropping out and leaving the ticket high and dry after he'd been running for reelection for over a year," LaRosa said. "What they did was really unprecedented and very historic in terms of a political campaign selfishness for their own party."
What the Left Is Saying
Demings defended Jill Biden's decision to speak out publicly about her husband's health struggles. "I believe that it was something that was very heavy on her heart because of the attention that it received," Demings told NBC News's Kristen Welker. "It involves her husband."
The former Florida congresswoman compared Jill Biden's reasoning for speaking out with first lady Melania Trump when she denied having any ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying both women spoke out "because it was something heavy on their heart that they wanted to talk about."
Demings said she believed Jill Biden when the former first lady described being scared her husband had suffered a stroke during the debate. "She's not in cabinet meetings with him," Demings added. "And I think she needed to do this for her own satisfaction and to try to move forward."
What the Numbers Show
Joe Biden served as president from January 2021 to January 2025, making him the oldest person to assume the presidency at age 78.
He announced he would not seek reelection on July 21, 2024, following widespread calls from Democratic lawmakers after his poor performance in the June 27 CNN presidential debate against Trump.
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. Harris lost to Trump in the November 2024 election.
The 2024 election marked Trump's second term as president, returning to office after Biden defeated him in 2020.
The Bottom Line
Jill Biden's decision to publicly discuss her husband's health during the 2024 debate has renewed discussion about transparency and the circumstances surrounding Biden's withdrawal from the race. Demings' defense of the former first lady underscores the continued sensitivity within the Democratic Party around questions that persisted throughout the 2024 campaign about Joe Biden's cognitive fitness for office.