Jill Biden said there is at least one positive to come out of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Biden, the former second lady, said more people have become involved in politics since President Trump was elected.
“Because if you have to think of a positive effect of Trump, that could be one of them: that more people have said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to put up with this.’ And thank God more women are running. And they’re interesting and they’re doing it for the right reasons. If you have to find the silver lining, that’s it,” she told Vogue.
Almost two dozen Democratic hopefuls are running to challenge Trump in 2020. Her husband, Joe Biden, is seen as the front-runner. He is leading other candidates by a wide margin, having almost 35% support in RealClearPolitics’ average of polls.
Jill Biden said her husband finally admitted to wanting to run for president in 2020 when the couple went to lunch after George H.W. Bush’s funeral in December.
“He was really hesitant,” she said. “And there was a lot of pressure. Fundraisers were calling. People were calling him from all over the world, not just in the U.S. At one point, I said, ‘Joe, you have to make up your mind.’ Because otherwise, I thought it would damage him; people were getting their hopes up. … We went to BlackSalt, and I said, ‘It’s getting too close, people are thinking about announcing; you’ve got to make up your mind.’ And he looked at me and he said, ‘I want to be president.’ And that was the first time he said so and that I actually knew.”
The former vice president did not announce he was entering the 2020 race until late April.
