The Shady Side Of Jill Biden

Joe Biden made plenty of news throughout his time in the White House, as folks slowly began to uncover that there's a shady side to President Biden. The 46th POTUS has been accused of exaggerating claims of his work as a civil rights activist, of having a terrible temper, and of praising segregationists. Similarly, numerous other Biden family members have been embroiled in headline-making drama. Most notably, Hunter Biden caused a stir with everything from his drug confessions to his romantic relationship with his brother's widow, Hallie Biden.

The first lady also hasn't been spared from appearing in the news for all the wrong reasons. Dr. Jill Biden (who received a Doctor of Education degree in 2007) has had many controversial moments of her own. Things like her awkward behavior after Joe's dicey debate performance in June 2024 have gotten critics talking and turned people against her. What's more, it seems that, just like her husband, she too has a shady side.

Jill and Joe Biden say they met on a blind date set up by one of Joe Biden's brothers. As Joe told Meet Cutes NYC, it was 1975 when he received a call from Frank Biden telling him, "I go to school with this woman — you'll love her. She is beautiful, and she doesn't like politics.” The then-33-year-old senator was instantly smitten with the 24-year-old college student, and the rest is history. It's a sweet story, but Jill's ex-husband, Bill Stevenson, claims it isn't true. Speaking with Inside Edition, Stevenson said that Jill and Joe Biden met through him in 1972 — three years earlier than they claimed.

Jill and Stevenson married in 1970, and two years later, Stevenson was fundraising for Joe Biden as he ran for the Senate for the first time. "Right before the election in '72, Jill, Joe, [Joe's first wife] Neilia, and I were in his kitchen," he claimed, slamming, "How do you forget that?"

Stevenson maintains that Jill and Joe began an affair but didn't rouse his suspicions until 1974. He told MailOnline he knew something was off when he had the opportunity to meet Bruce Springsteen and asked his wife to come along. "She said no," he recalled. "She had to look after Joe's kids, Beau and Hunter." The final straw came when he learned that Biden had been spotted driving Jill's car. "I asked Jill to leave the house, which she did," he told the outlet.

Following Bill Stevenson's suspicions that Jill Biden had been unfaithful, the couple divorced in 1975. "I was betrayed by the Bidens," Stevenson told Inside Edition. "Joe was my friend; Jill was my wife." But he wasn't just dealing with heartbreak after the split. In addition to Jill's ex making scathing claims about her fidelity, he also called Joe Biden's character into question. Speaking with Newsmax in 2023, Stevenson claimed that the Biden family tried to intimidate him and take advantage of him after the split. Indeed, Jill herself asked for half of her ex's business — an ultra-popular live music venue in Delaware called the Stone Balloon — which a judge denied.

What's more, he alleged that "Frankie Biden of the Biden crime family comes up to me and he goes, 'Give her the house or you're going to have serious problems.'" Stevenson refused and said that "about two months later, my brother and I were indicted for that tax charge for $8,200." Jill's ex-husband explained that he had already paid $5 million in taxes on the Stone Balloon's multimillion-dollar income and said he was only indicted because of Biden's personal grudge against him. "I was on the wrong side of them and they have literally come after me for 35 years in a row," he added, without offering any solid examples. "One little thing after another."

When Joe Biden first decided to join the 2020 presidential race, he was plagued by accusations of inappropriate conduct. It was 2019, and a slew of women raised claims of inappropriate touching, uncomfortable comments, and all-around questionable behavior at various political events. For example, congressional aide Amy Lappos told the Hartford Courant that Joe once rubbed his nose against hers at a 2009 fundraiser. Similarly, former White House intern Vail Kohnert-Yount alleged that he put his forehead against hers in a bizarre exchange. One of the most scathing reports, though, came from Nevada lieutenant governor nominee Lucy Flores. Writing for The Cut, she claimed that Biden smelled her hair, then "he proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head."

As the reports mounted, Joe Biden tweeted a sort of apology. "Social norms are changing," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future." Jill Biden also wrote off the accusations as Joe simply being Joe. "They were a very affectionate family," she told NPR, arguing that her husband's behavior was merely a part of his personality. "[It's] how Joe connected with people," she said, but agreed, "Now these are different times." Also, in that interview, she brushed aside Joe Biden's handling of the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas during which a law professor named Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment. "He apologized for the way the hearings were run," she said of Joe. "It's time to move on."

Back in 2022, Jill Biden was invited to speak at a conference celebrating the work of Raul Yzaguirre, the former CEO of UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. In her speech, she praised the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, saying, per CNN, "Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community — as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio — is your strength." Notably, she also mispronounced the word "bodegas" as "bogedas."

The blowback was swift. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists clapped back with a lengthy statement posted to X. "We are not tacos," they slammed. "Do not reduce us to stereotypes." Similarly, Senator Marco Rubio took issue with the remarks, cheekily tweeting that he was changing his profile picture to a taco.

However, Janet Murguía, the new UnidosUS CEO, defended Jill, tweeting, "She has been a great educator in, and a great amiga to, our community for years." Even so, Jill's spokesman, Michael LaRosa, tried to control the heat by tweeting an apology: "The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community."

Jill Biden has been a vocal supporter of Hunter Biden throughout all of his legal issues, even telling NBC News, "I know that Hunter is innocent." However, their relationship may not be as close as it seems. In 2022, The Sun saw text messages from an iPhone backed up to Hunter's notorious laptop in 2018 in which he repeatedly insulted his stepmother. In one exchange, he railed against his then-girlfriend, Hallie Biden, by comparing her to Jill. "F*** my stepmother for always being as much of a selfish silly entitled c*** as you," he slammed.

In another incendiary thread, he wrote to his uncle, James Biden, about an argument he had with Jill after he refused to go to rehab. According to Hunter, she rolled her eyes and berated him, reportedly saying, "You're not going to be doing anything at all for yourself or your family if you just refuse to get sober." As he told James, he had quite the response lined up in which he insulted his stepmom's intelligence. "You do know the drunkest I've ever been is still smarter than you could ever even comprehend," he allegedly fired back. "You're a s*** grammar teacher that wouldn't survive one class in an ivy graduate program." In his messages to James, Hunter also called Jill a "vindictive moron" and slammed, "Go f*** yourself Jill let's all agree I don't like you anymore than you like me."

When Jill Biden attended the NCAA women's basketball national championship in Dallas, Texas, in April 2023, she enjoyed the game as much as anyone. The finals pitted rivals and top stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark against each other as the Louisiana State University Tigers took on the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Ultimately, the Tigers won and were invited to visit the White House, as is customary.

The controversy didn't arise until the following day when Jill told reporters, per The New York Times, "I'm going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game." Reese immediately clapped back at that idea, tweeting, "WE NOT COMING. Period." She elaborated on her stance on the "I Am Athlete" podcast, explaining that the issue was about race. "I just know if the roles were reversed, it wouldn't be the same," she argued. "If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House." Many agreed, including former White House aide Keith Boykin, who tweeted, "When Black women win a national championship, they should not be forced to share the stage with the losing team."

Ultimately, Jill's press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia, was forced to do damage control. Taking to X, she clarified, "[Jill's] comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes."

Despite Hunter Biden allegedly calling her a "moron," Jill Biden was right by his side during his June 2024 trial related to making false statements to buy a firearm. The first lady was repeatedly spotted in the courtroom, often sitting in the front row and even walking into the trail holding her stepson's hand. Her support was made even more impressive by the fact that she had to fly back and forth from France in order to be by his side. Less impressive was news of who would be footing the bill.

After attending the first day of jury selection, Jill flew to France to attend D-Day ceremonies with her husband, then jetted back to Wilmington, Delaware, to watch granddaughter Naomi Biden testify. Right after, she headed back to Paris for a full day of sightseeing and a state dinner at the Élysée Palace. According to ABC News, her round trip cost an estimated $223,000, and most of that would be paid for with taxpayer dollars. That's because the Pentagon has a set list of how much money it will reimburse for any given flight, and, in Jill's case, that was around $15,000 – leaving a balance of over $200,000.

Following Joe Biden's disastrous debate against Donald Trump in June 2024 calls for him to stop his re-election campaign quickly began to mount. However, for nearly a month, he refused to do so, and many believed that Jill Biden was the reason for this. Indeed, she was adamant that her husband should stay in the race, even praising his debate performance during an event in Atlanta, Georgia. "You answered every question, you knew all the facts," she said, per The Telegraph. Similarly, she told donors at a New York event, per Reuters, "Joe isn't just the right person for the job, he's the only person for the job."

Unfortunately, many people no longer agreed, and as Joe Biden's campaign continued, both Democrats and Republicans put the blame at Jill's door. For example, a group of Democratic women from Philadelphia penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post titled, "Dear Jill Biden, please tell your husband it's time to step aside." Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump's campaign press secretary, piled on, claiming, per the Washington Examiner, "She's been engaging in elder abuse, and she should be held accountable for that." Yet another source told NBC News, "The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady."

However, other insiders told a different story. "The dark side of the internet says she loves the perks [but] she is indifferent to the Washington social class," one source told The Daily Beast.

After weeks of mounting pressure, President Joe Biden officially ended his bid for re-election and dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, 2024. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," he wrote on X, but conceded, "I believe it is in the best interest of my part and the country for me to stand down." It was exactly what many had been pushing for, but it was a surprising and monumental announcement, nonetheless. Indeed, the historic moment was much too important for Jill Biden to simply respond with an emoji of two pink hearts – which is what she did.

Critics instantly seized on her lighthearted reaction, with one user tweeting, "Jill commenting like an influencer supporting their ex's joint break up announcement has me rolling." Another quipped, "Commenting like her friend from college just posted she was having a baby girl." Others also homed in on her cover photo, which continued to read, "Let's finish the job!" One follower pointed out the irony, writing, "I guess you meant 'Let's quit halfway through.'"

The U.S. Secret Service was in hot water following the assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a July 2024 rally in Pennsylvania. During a House Oversight Committee hearing, then-Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle was grilled about her staff's failures that day, and Republican Rep. William Timmons wanted to know more about how resources were allocated. As Timmons noted, the Pittsburgh field office sent three agents to the Trump rally while 12 were allocated to an event Jill Biden was hosting that same day, also in Pennsylvania. As he noted, the risk of Biden's event appeared much lower as it was held indoors in a casino equipped with magnetometers. Cheatle didn't deny the number of officers but argued that the resources matched the risk. Indeed, the Secret Service has maintained that no resources were actually diverted from Trump's event to Jill's.

Jill's name was further connected to the controversy when the New York Post reported that Cheatle (who has since stepped down) got her job as Secret Service director because she was friends with the first lady. A bond that sources said formed when Cheatle was part of Jill's detail while Joe Biden was VP. Insiders also claimed that Jill pushed for the promotion on the word of a senior aide, Anthony Bernal, who had no real knowledge of national security and "should have [had] no influence over the selection of the USSS director."