Jill Biden Gets Nasty After Former Staffer Comments on Her Book: ‘Say It to My Face’
Jill Biden’s newly released memoir, *View from the East Wing*, is drawing criticism within the democratic Party-especially from former White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates.Bates argues that revisiting former President Joe Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump reopens painful political wounds unnecessarily.
At a Wednesday book-promotion event in Washington, D.C., Jill Biden responded sharply to Bates’ comments, telling him to “call me up and say it to my face,” and emphasizing that only one chapter of the book focuses on political injuries. The moderator noted that bates had spoken to the New York Post, prompting Jill Biden to reiterate that any disagreement should be expressed directly.
The dispute centers on Jill Biden’s claims about what she believed during the debate-she reportedly feared Joe Biden may have been having a stroke and later wrote that she helped him understand he’d performed badly. Former staffers cited in the article dispute this, saying no one at the time thought there was a health issue and pointing to their continued schedule afterward, including a visit to a Waffle House.
Former first lady Jill Biden’s new memoir, “View from the East Wing,” has prompted criticism, especially from fellow Democrats.
On Wednesday evening, the former first lady fired back at one of them.
“Call me up and say it to my face,” she defiantly insisted.
The object of her displeasure, former White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, told the New York Post that the former first lady did the party no favors by revisiting former President Joe Biden’s catastrophic June 2024 debate performance against then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The former president performed so poorly, in fact, that long-simmering concerns about his cognitive decline finally went mainstream. Several weeks later, in what one journalist called a political “coup,” Democrat leaders jettisoned then-President Biden and replaced him with now-former Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of their 2024 presidential ticket.
“We had a duty to win and we didn’t,” Bates said. “I think about that all the time. But I don’t see why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now.”
According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, the former first lady addressed Bates’ comments during a Wednesday evening book-promotion event at the Sixth and I synagogue in Washington, D.C.
At one point, event moderator Paola Ramos noted Bates’ criticism of the book.
“You know,” the former first lady said in a clip posted to the social media platform X, “I just want to say that my book has one chapter on the political wounds. One. One. The rest of the book contains my reflections of the four years at the White House.”
She later added, in effect, that Bates has her phone number if he wants to lodge a complaint.
“So I want to say to Andrew, ‘call me up and say it to my face, buddy,’” the former first lady said, drawing applause from the audience and a “wow” from Ramos.
“To be fair,” the moderator replied, “he did go to the New York Post.”
“Oh, he went to the Post. OK,” the former first lady laughed, as if that fact changed nothing in her mind. “I know, but if somebody has something to say to you, say it to my face!”
“But, you are exposing yourself,” Ramos said amid more applause.
“OK, that’s fair,” the former first lady conceded, “but his comment wasn’t fair.”
Former First Lady Jill Biden slams @AndrewBatesNC and others saying she’s reopening old wounds and dividing the Democratic Party with her new book: ‘Say it to my face’ pic.twitter.com/w7XVM7fSdo
— Nicholas A Ballasy (@NicholasBallasy) June 4, 2026
During their now-infamous 2024 debate, then-President Biden repeatedly froze, stumbled over his words, looked confused, and sounded incoherent.
Afterward, the then-first lady behaved as if nothing had gone wrong.
In her just-released memoir, however, she wrote that at the time she feared her husband might have suffered a stroke. She also reportedly admitted that the president immediately knew he had delivered a bad performance, which she confirmed for him.
In short, the former first lady’s attempt to re-write history has irritated many Democrats.
“Why did we push out he had a cold,” one former Biden staffer asked Wednesday, per the Post, “if she thought he had a stroke?”
Another former staffer put it more bluntly.
“No one thought he had a stroke,” the staffer told the Post. “That is in her head and her head only. This has been litigated and relitigated among staff. We didn’t think he had a health issue because they kept on with the schedule. Immediately to the afterparty and then to Waffle House. Who goes to Waffle House after a stroke?”
After the debate, the Bidens did indeed visit an Atlanta-area Waffle House. When asked about his performance, the then-president blamed Trump.
Jill Biden now says she thought Joe was having a stroke on the debate stage with Trump.
She was so concerned about it she went with him to hang around at a Waffle House after the debate.
Biden: “I think we did well.” pic.twitter.com/oryFJG4c83
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 27, 2026
“It’s hard to debate a liar,” former President Biden said in a clip posted to X.
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