Jill Biden, the soon-to-be first lady, responded to some of her critics after she was attacked over her preference to be called “Dr. Biden.”
Biden, who obtained a doctoral degree in education from the University of Delaware in 2007, responded to the attacks Thursday night during an interview alongside her husband, President-elect Joe Biden, with comedian Stephen Colbert.
“Yeah. That was such a surprise,” she said when asked if she had a reaction to those who don’t think she should refer to herself as “doctor.”
Biden’s comments came in response to a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Joseph Epstein, in which his central premise was that she shouldn’t go by “doctor” because that title should refer to medical professionals and not people with doctorate degrees. Critics, including those within the Bidens’ inner circle, were quick to denounce the article as sexist and condescending.
“It was really the tone of it that I think that — you know, he called me ‘kiddo,'” she added, pointing out one of Epstein’s references to her. “One of the things I’m most proud of is my doctorate; I mean, I worked so hard for it. And, you know, Joe came when I defended my thesis.”
“Look at all the people who came out in support of me,” the future first lady continued. “I am so grateful. And I was just overwhelmed by how gracious people were toward me.”
The Wall Street Journal opinion section defended Epstein’s article in the face of backlash. Paul Gigot, the outlet’s editorial page editor, wrote, “These pages aren’t going to stop publishing provocative essays merely because they offend the new administration or the political censors in the media and academe.”
After Epstein’s article received significant attention, Fox News’s Tucker Carlson ran segments about her degrees, two master’s and a doctorate, while the National Review published an opinion article on the topic. The National Review article, written by Kyle Smith, criticized Biden’s dissertation as “garbage” and described it as “sloppy, poorly written, non-academic, and barely fit for a middle-school Social Studies classroom.”
While many were quick to jump to Biden’s defense, others pointed to the Associated Press‘s style guide, which many newsrooms follow to guide what verbiage to use in specific settings, which has long said to use the term “doctor” only for those holding medical, dental, or veterinary degrees.
