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Jill Biden: the first lady shoring up her husband’s reeling re-election bid
- Calls are growing for Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy. But the 81-year-old is ‘the only person for the job’ of US president, in his wife’s eyes
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Ever present by the US president’s side after his calamitous debate – and four-square behind him as he vowed to fight on in his re-election bid – First Lady Jill Biden has been fighting her husband’s battles from the front lines.
“I think she is as influential as pundits are claiming and her opinion likely matters more to him than anyone else’s,” said Tammy Vigil, a professor of communications at Boston University.
“Without her support, it would be impossible for him to continue in the race.”
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The 73-year-old community college professor was making headlines of her own on Monday, as Vogue unveiled the cover of its August issue – with the first lady looking seraphic in a long white tuxedo gown by Ralph Lauren.
The picture and the article date from April, long before President Joe Biden struggled to make himself understood during a halting, unfocused performance at a CNN debate against Republican rival Donald Trump.
But in a note introducing the article, the magazine’s editors revealed they’d had a telephone conversation with the first lady shortly after the debate, as calls mounted for her 81-year-old husband to withdraw his candidacy.
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