Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza criticized First Lady Jill Biden Thursday for her role in President Joe Biden’s decision to run for reelection in 2024.
Cillizza’s remarks follow the first lady’s interview with The Washington Post published Wednesday, in which she said she found it “disappointing” that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to stand by her husband as Democrats pushed him to withdraw from the race. Cillizza, on his YouTube channel, acknowledged understanding the first lady’s perspective as Biden’s spouse, but argued that she should be blamed at least somewhat for what unfolded with both her husband and his party.
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“At one level, I get this, okay? Jill Biden is a spouse first and she has her spouse’s back, right? She’s not a political strategist first, you know. So, I understand that. She’s disappointed. At the same time, it seems to me that Jill Biden bears at least some, if not a significant chunk, of the blame for what happened with her husband and Democrats in the 2024 election,” Cillizza said. “Because quite clearly, from all of the reporting that we know about, Jill Biden was the driving force to get Joe Biden to run again, first of all, and then to fight the idea that he was too old and not physically and mentally capable of serving for another four years. And then even after that June 27th debate, to insist that it was a brief blip, he was totally fine and anyone trying to push him out was disloyal.”
“So, I really do think that Jill Biden’s role has not gotten enough attention, scrutiny and, candidly, blame. Without her, I don’t think Joe Biden probably runs again. But she felt like he should, for a variety of reasons — some of which I think were altruistic,” he continued. “She thought he could beat [President-elect] Donald Trump, etc., etc. But I do think she let her personal judgment get in the way when we are talking about a president of the United States. It is extremely hard for me to believe that Jill Biden, Joe Biden’s spouse, never saw her husband in a state of confusion or a fog, like we saw him display during the June 27th debate. She’s with him virtually every day.”
However, Cillizza clarified that he does not believe the first lady should shoulder all of “the blame.” He asserted the president is more deserving of it due to being the ultimate decision maker as the candidate.
Biden told USA Today in a recent interview that he believed he “had the best chance of beating” Trump in the November presidential election, but acknowledged that he was unsure whether he had the ability to serve another four years as president.
Cillizza expressed remorse in December for not investigating concerns about Biden’s mental and physical health during his tenure at CNN.
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