Jill Biden is methodically building her profile as first lady as her husband encounters challenges during the first 100 days of his presidency.
This week, for instance, the first lady held President Biden’s hand during a memorial ceremony outside the White House to mark 500,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States, then made her first solo intercity trip to Richmond, Virginia. There, she visited a cancer research center. She also sat down with pop star Kelly Clarkson for her first solo TV interview, which will air Thursday, and will fly with her husband to Houston on Friday to survey the damage caused and hardship experienced in Texas during this month’s fatal winter storms.
“So glad to have someone with your heart and your husband’s heart in leadership. We’ve gone through four years of hell,” a panelist told Jill Biden after Wednesday’s event at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center.
“Oh my God,” she replied, appearing to roll her eyes in empathy and frustration at the reference to former President Donald Trump before another guest took the microphone she was wearing in an odd moment.
GOP ANSWERS BIDEN CALL FOR CUTS TO COVID-19 SPENDING BILL
But by focusing on her own agenda, the Biden administration may be under-utilizing a messenger who often more clearly articulates the president’s priorities than he does himself.
Jill Biden seems to be “carefully pacing herself” after moving into the White House a month ago, according to first lady historian Andrew Och, reintroducing herself to the public “in a way she is comfortable with.”
Aside from joint appearances with the president and reaching out to government spouses, she’s been concentrating on the issue set she touted during the 2020 campaign and transition. On top of cancer research and touring facilities such as the National Cancer Institute and Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, D.C., that list includes education and supporting military families.
To that end, Jill Biden has convened roundtable discussions on military child education and taken part in a national veteran students conference. She’s recorded remarks, too, for an American Library Association meeting, hosted teachers and their union representatives in the executive mansion, and put together a charla, Spanish for “chat,” for young Latinos.
“We have to get this done. And we have to do it now,” the English and writing professor, who still teaches, said this month of free community college.
Och predicted the West and East Wing’s agendas would “mix and develop,” though he expected her to retain her separate identity since it’s one she’s forged after years in the nation’s capital as second lady and decades before that as a senator’s wife.
“The American public love an active and visible first lady,” he said. “We will continue to see more and more of her.”
Fellow presidential spouse author Kate Andersen Brower agreed Jill Biden would become more prominent in the coming weeks, attributing her understated presence so far to the administration’s preoccupation with its COVID-19 response.
“I think she’s an asset because she’s a naturally empathetic person, and that’s what the country needs right now,” Brower said. “It would make sense to deploy her in situations where she can convey her natural warmth.”
But by waiting to deploy the first lady, the president’s team may be depriving itself of the opportunity to add her voice to its sales pitch for his “American Rescue Plan” as Republicans push back on the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief spending package. The team’s decision last month to dispatch Vice President Kamala Harris for local media interviews in Arizona and West Virginia to ramp up pressure on Democratic senators in those states ahead of the March 14 deadline when some financial aid programs expire backfired.
Democratic strategist Tracy Sefl begged to differ, arguing the first lady’s calendar has been well balanced “with substantive visits and meaningful appearances.”
“Giant Valentine’s Day hearts on the White House lawn, for example, were a most welcome sight and spoke volumes,” she said, mentioning the surprise the first lady left for the president this month.
“The White House agenda is, of course, to aggressively address the many crises engulfing the country. These are crises that touch every aspect of our lives, and Dr. Biden will continue to use her compassionate, humanizing voice as President Biden’s work is underway,” Sefl added.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
President Biden’s first 100 days in office have not unfolded as smoothly as he would have likely hoped. Unable to win over Republicans for his coronavirus relief spending bill, he and congressional Democrats are ramming the measure through the House and Senate via a parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation. He’s also behind in confirming many members of his Cabinet and is on the verge of having to withdraw his nominee to direct the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden.
“I am [disappointed], but I don’t so much blame it on the Senate. I blame it on the failure to have a transition that was rational,” Biden told reporters Wednesday when asked about his Cabinet progress in particular.
