First Lady Pool Reports of January 31, 2022

January 31, 2022

Pool Reports by Daniel Bush, Newsweek

Sent: Reports:
January 31, 2022
09:25

FLOTUS pool report #1 -- NGA spouse's program Kennedy Center event w/ SGOTUS

Good morning. FLOTUS pool will gather shortly at the Palm Room doors for a National Governors Association event at the Kennedy Center.

Background from FLOTUS' office:

The First Lady and the Second Gentleman will be hosted at the Kennedy Center as part of a National Governors Association (NGA)’s Governors’ Spouses’ Program event during this year’s NGA Winter Meeting. Mrs. Deborah Rutter, President of the Kennedy Center, will kick off the speaking program. The First Lady the Second Gentleman will then join the governors’ spouses in watching musical and ballet performances before proceeding to departure.

Participants

  • Susan Burrell Hutchinson, Arkansas (R) – Chair
  • Tammy Snyder Murphy, New Jersey (D) – Vice Chair
  • Rose Dunleavy, Alaska (R)
  • Angela Ducey, Arizona (R)
  • Tracey Carney, Delaware (D)
  • Jeff Cook, Guam (D)
  • Dawn Amano-Ige, Hawaii (D)
  • Donna Edwards, Louisiana (D)
  • Yumi Hogan, Maryland (R)
  • Lauren Baker, Massachusetts (R)
  • Susan Gianforte, Montana (R) Tentative
  • Susanne Shore, Nebraska (R)
  • Kathy Sisolak, Nevada (D)
  • Bill Hochul, New York (D) Tentative
  • Kathryn Burgum, North Dakota (R)
  • Fran DeWine, Ohio (R)
  • Dan Little, Oregon (D)
  • Frances Wolf, Pennsylvania (D)
  • Cary Pierluisi, Puerto Rico (D)
  • Susan McKee, Rhode Island (D)
  • Abby Cox, Utah (R)
  • Yolanda Cabodevilla Bryan, Virgin Islands (D)
  • Kathy Evers, Wisconsin (D)

    FLOTUS Traveling Staff

  • Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the First Lady
  • Michael LaRosa, Special Assistant to the President and Press Secretary to the First Lady
  • Jordan Montoya, Trip Director & Director of Advance
January 31, 2022
09:28

FLOTUS pool report #2 — departure

FLOTUS pool is in the van. Motorcade rolling to the Kennedy Center.

January 31, 2022
12:06

FLOTUS pool report #3 — arrival

The pool arrived at the Kennedy Center at 9:20 am and is holding in a large room with river views of the Potomac, where the event is scheduled to take place a little later this morning.

No sighting of FLOTUS and SGOTUS yet. A White House official said FLOTUS is expected to speak at approx. 10:15 am.

January 31, 2022
12:06

FLOTUS pool report #4 -- Kennedy Center remarks

First lady Jill Biden and Second gentleman Doug Emhoff arrived at Studio F at the Kennedy Center at 10:25 am, to speak to an audience of about 50 members of the National Governors Association's Spouses Program.

Dr. Biden and Emhoff were introduced by the Kennedy Center's president Deborah Rutter, as well as by New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy and Arkansas First lady Susan Hutchinson. Murphy noted that Emhoff "originated" in New Jersey before moving with his family to California as a teenager.

Emhoff nodded to his roots in his opening remarks. "You can take the boy out of Jersey but you can't take the Jersey out of the boy," he said. The second gentleman went on to speak about his experience coming to Washington, D.C. as the spouse of then-Sen. Kamala Harris, and the relationships he formed with the spouses of other members of the Senate.

"Being a guy as a senate spouse, there was a few of us and we all kind of bonded together," Emhoff said. "It's something that helped me a lot when I first came to D.C." Emhoff finished his remarks by calling Dr. Biden a "mentor" who helped him adjust to his current role. "She's been so amazing and helpful to me personally."

Dr. Biden then took the podium and praised the Kennedy Center as "a champion of American art and culture." She also thanked the members of the NGA Spouse's Program for joining her over the weekend at the White House to pack care packages for military families.

Dr. Biden urged the attendees to find common causes they could work on together going forward. "There are so many things that I feel really aren't red issues or blue issues," such as helping military families or cancer research, she said.

The spouses of elected officials "have a shared experience that most people don't understand," Biden said. She noted that she grew up watching Phillies games and waitressing at the Jersey Shore to pay for college, and never imagined one day becoming first lady of the United States.

Dr. Biden told a brief story about hosting former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband for drinks in the White House residence. Merkel complimented a Claude Monet painting in the residence that Dr. Biden said she had never noticed before. Merkel took the first lady to examine the painting, and "there's this little tiny plaque" identifying it as a painting by Monet, Dr. Biden said. The moment was a reminder that "I discover" new things living in the White House, the first lady said.

Dr. Biden then spoke about her travels across the county, saying she has been to "more than 36 states" since becoming first lady. She said she's met with people who voted for President Biden as well as with people who don't support her husband. Dr. Biden stressed the importance of speaking to people with different points of view.

"I've seen how despite our differences families across this country want the same things," Dr. Biden said. She added, "when our neighbor is sick we don't ask who they voted for. We just take over soup."

Soon after Dr. Biden concluded her remarks and took her seat in the front row. Staff removed the podium to make way for three performances.

The audience was treated to a rendition of the Second Movement of the Mozart Flute Concerto in G major, performed by two youth fellows of the National Symphony Orchestra; "My Favorite Things" by jazz pianist Jose Andre Montano; and the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake, performed by members of The Washington Ballet.

After the performance finished the first lady and second gentleman left the room at 11:16 a.m.

January 31, 2022
12:10

FLOTUS pool report #5 -- lid

FLOTUS pool was ushered out of the Kennedy Center and back to the van. Arrived back at the White House at 11:35 a.m.

A travel lid has been called.

Jill Biden, First Lady Pool Reports of January 31, 2022 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/354298

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