Praveena Somasundaram
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Jill Biden's new memoir and the tour to promote it are reigniting frustrations among some Democrats who feel the former first lady is unnecessarily relitigating the 2024 presidential campaign.
In her book, "View From the East Wing," Biden recounts her time in the White House and defends the decisions her husband, Joe Biden, made during his reelection bid.
The Bidens, their aides and the Democratic Party writ large faced intense backlash over their handling of the 2024 presidential campaign, when Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance prompted concerns about his age and mental acuity. He ultimately withdrew and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
In her book, Jill Biden wrote that when she asked her husband about his decision to exit, he replied: "Jilly, I had no choice." Andrew Bates, a former White House spokesperson, told the New York Post that he didn't see "why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now."
Jill Biden hit back. "I want to say to Andrew: Call me up," she said Wednesday at a D.C. stop on her book tour. "If somebody has something to say, then say it to my face."
The former first lady added that "political wounds" were a "small part" of her book, reserved to only one chapter.
Still, critics have said the conversation about 2024 comes at an inconvenient time, as the party is trying to move forward from the damaging loss, combat the Trump administration and win enough congressional seats to take back the majorities.
A spokesperson for the Bidens declined to comment, as did Bates. Jill Biden called Bates on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the conversation who declined to offer additional details. Politico first reported about the call.
Meghan Hays, a former White House aide to Joe Biden, said on C-SPAN's "Ceasefire" that the conversation was taking away from the "momentum" behind Democrats.
"When we get pulled back into conversations about age and the election in ‘24, it's never going to be a good place for Democrats," Hays said.
On the 2024 campaign, Bates had told the New York Post: "We had a duty to win and we didn't. I think about that all the time." He added that he didn't think the book would impact the midterms.
Other Biden administration and campaign officials were publicly irritated about how the first lady spoke about Bates, known widely as a stalwart defender of the Bidens.
"Just a whole lot I could say about this but I will leave it at being so, unbelievably disappointed," Rob Flaherty, a top aide to Biden during his reelection campaign and in the White House, posted on X.
The Bidens have made their way back to the news cycle in recent weeks. In May, Hunter Biden taped an interview with conservative podcaster Candace Owens, speaking in the episode and on social media about his drug addiction and years-long sobriety.
During his wife's book tour, Joe Biden announced he is writing another memoir to be released in September. He also sued the Justice Department to block the release of recordings from interviews with a ghostwriter helping him write his memoir.
Rufus Gifford, chairman of Joe Biden's presidential library foundation, said it was "ridiculous" for anyone to assert that the former first lady's book would hurt Democratic momentum in the midterm elections. He cast the book as a chance for Jill Biden to offer her perspective in the same way other former first ladies have.
"Obviously, I'm very fond of the Bidens, but I also think they should have an opportunity to tell their stories," Gifford said. "And this is her ability."
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