Jill Biden Feels the Heat as the Not-So-Good Wife

For those attempting to figure out how Joe Biden could possibly have decided to hang on so long past his shelf life, look no further than a central character in Shakespeare’s 400-year-old yet still iconic Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, initially depicted as a strong, confident, and intelligent spouse, eventually succumbs to her own ambition, ruthlessness, and manipulative nature in driving her husband to murder the king of Scotland to seize the throne. It famously comes to a calamitous end akin to the Greek tragedies of old. You likely recognize the analogy to Jill Biden, former first lady, who is now seen in many circles as the villain whose thirst for clinging to power and prestige forced her husband to seek a second term in the White House despite obvious signs of his incapacity.

Fingers are increasingly being pointed at her, and with former aides to Joe Biden now being called to Capitol Hill to testify on the scandalous cover-up/denial of Biden’s cognitive decline, the ex-first lady is now feeling the heat. How could she allow, or more likely compel, her husband to run for re-election when it was clear that he would have trouble making it to the finish line of his first term, let alone continue as leader of the free world until 2029?

Then we get to the matter of Biden’s diagnosis of advanced-stage metastatic prostate cancer and a number of questions that demand answers. How could his doctors allow an easily detectable cancer in the most powerful man in the world to advance to this point? How could he have gone more than a decade without a simple PSA test that would have revealed his growing cancer before it reached stage 5 and spread to his bones?  How could his wife, and perhaps the rest of his closest advisors, not have known about this some time ago? Did they actually know months ago about a cancer that doesn’t just pop up overnight, but shielded Biden from public acknowledgment? And does it not seem to be a remarkable coincidence that the announcement of his condition came just as the most scandalous evidence of his downfall was reaching critical mass?

Elder Abuse?

The term ‘elder abuse,’ pertaining to the former president’s wife and inner circle, is now being tossed about freely. A senior Department of Justice official, Leo Terrell, has weighed in with the suggestion that Jill Biden should be criminally charged for turning a blind eye to her husband’s health and compelling him to run for re-election. In response to a post on X stating Mrs. Biden “knew about President Biden’s health problems” but “still wanted him to run for President again,” Terrell wrote, “Elder abuse! Criminal charges??”

Geriatric medical specialist Elaine Healy went one step further, writing in the New York Post that “I have referred former President Joe Biden to the Adult Protective Services Division of Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services as a likely elder-abuse victim — naming Jill Biden, Dr. Kevin O’Connor and former Biden chief of staff Jeffrey Zients as possible perpetrators.” As per the Post, the Justice Department defines elder abuse as the use of a senior’s signature to execute monetary and other transactions that the individual doesn’t understand. The American Bar Association recognizes the legal concept of “undue influence” as it relates to elder abuse: the intentional use of social influence, deception, and manipulation to gain control of the decision-making of another.

While Mrs. Biden will obviously not face actual criminal charges, she is staring down the barrel of humiliation and shame, whether she is capable of feeling such emotions or not, and the final obliteration of the already tattered Biden family legacy. But even more importantly, it raises the issue of which people were making or forcing presidential decisions and commanding the infamous autopen, as Biden’s decline evidently rendered him all but incapable of performing his incredibly demanding job.

Elite media looking to deflect blame from themselves after the fact for denying what everyone else could see with their own eyes will serve to make Mrs. Biden look even worse. CNN’s Jake Tapper, co-author of the recently released book Original Sin – on Biden’s ill-fated decision to run for re-election – was among those at the forefront of denial. He scolded Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, all the way back in 2020 for daring to suggest that Biden was showing troubling signs of cognitive decline. It was in the midst of the pandemic, which was used as a convenient excuse for shielding Biden from public view as he sought the presidency. Many, if not most, in elite left-wing media were united in protecting Biden to a fare-thee-well, asking him questions during the 2020 campaign no more challenging than his favorite flavor of ice cream. They are now pretending to be shocked by revelations about the scandal.

Jill Biden and Her Thirst for Power and Prestige

It was easy to detect the former first lady’s need for adulation long ago simply by her insistence that she be called “Dr. Jill Biden,” a demand dutifully upheld by compliant media. But her doctorate was from the University of Delaware, hardly an elite institution, and in educational leadership. Almost anyone, including this author, who is close to those with non-medical PhDs, understands that no one, except those driven by extreme insecurity, would demand to be called a doctor except for the purpose of good-natured ribbing.

The running joke about her title is no longer amusing. As the person closest to her husband, she could easily have prevented him from making – or bowing to – the decision to run again, or even to seek the presidency five years ago. He could have called it a day after the 2022 midterms produced a surprisingly strong showing for the Democratic Party, allowing for an open primary.  But it has become increasingly clear that Mrs. Biden long held sway over her husband. Who can forget her talking to the former president like a teacher encouraging a three-year-old after his catastrophic debate with Trump almost one year ago: “Joe you did such a great job, you answered every question, you knew all the facts.” She later went on to take charge of Biden’s last cabinet meeting when the former president’s decline had reached the point of no return.

By most accounts, Jill Biden talked her husband out of running for president in 2004, but as the author of the book Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House writes, “after eight years as the second lady and nearly two more as the first lady, the trappings of the most elite levels of Washington power had grown on her.” Like the Democratic Party itself, Mrs. Biden will come to rue the day when her Lady Macbeth-like ambition and manipulation forced the man she loves to carry on in the face of irreparable adversity.