First Lady Pool Reports of June 28, 2024

FLOTUS Pool Report - Greenwich Village Fundraiser

First Lady Jill Biden's second stop in New York was a fundraiser in Greenwich Village hosted by author Adriana Trigiani.

A more detailed report is below, but the biggest highlights were her remarks about the debate, which she offered soon after she began speaking.

"So let's talk about last night 's debate, because I know it's on your minds." she said. "As Joe said earlier today, he's not a young man. And you know, after last night's debate, he said, 'You know, Jill, I don't know what happened. I didn't feel that great.' And I said, 'Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you've been president.'" The room erupted in applause.

"What my husband does know how to do is tell the truth," she continued. There was more clapping and hoots in the room. "When Joe gets knocked down, Joe gets back up, and that's what we're doing today." She noted that the rally earlier that day in North Carolina was an "amazing event."

The First Lady's remarks otherwise centered around two stories: when Joe asked her to marry him the fifth and final time, and what it was like when they found out he had been elected president four years ago.

She briefly mentioned the debate two other times. The first was in reference to her husband's steady demeanor and strength of character. "You've seen it these past few years through all we face, through the pandemic and assault on the Capitol, which, of course, you heard Trump say, never happened," she said. The second was when she told the story of being the daughter of a World War II veteran. "It really gets my Philly up when Donald Trump insults our veterans and disparages those who died in war, calling them 'losers' and 'suckers' — which Donald Trump also, you know, disputed last night," she said. "Like, 'Oh, I never said that,' when his own Chief of Staff, a four-star general, was so discouraged and sickened by it. How dare he? You know, words matter."

Fuller readout:

Pool was brought into a shotgun living room in the Greenwich Village brownstone on a clear-skied New York afternoon. The reception's title was "Words, Wisdom & Writers: A Reception with Jill Biden." A lectern and a pair of teleprompters were set up on one end; the attendees were packed into the remaining space. One fireplace mantle displayed the books of several authors in attendance — Barbara Kingsolver, David Baldacci, Alice Hoffman, Kristin Hannah, among others. Another displayed the books written by President Biden, "Promises to Keep" and "Promise Me, Dad," alongside the First Lady's illustrated children's books "Joey," "Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops," and "Willow the White House Cat."(Your pooler did not spot her memoir, "Where The Light Enters.")

Attendees snacked on mini lobster rolls and sipped Aperol Spritzes as they awaited the First Lady's formal remarks. There were 59 people in attendance, per a campaign aide. Other notables include comedian Susie Essman from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and former Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.).

Trigiani and the First Lady came out to applause at 5:05 PM, taking their places behind the lectern. FLOTUS was wearing a white dress with navy polka dots and pointy-toed pink stilettos.

Trigiani was the first to speak. "We are in love with your husband," Trigiani said to tremendous applause before mentioning several of the administration's accomplishments. She joked that Biden had "married up, and we're the beneficiaries," she said to laughs. She called FLOTUS "the most educated, curious, dynamic and relentless first lady in the history of this country."

Trigiani then turned back to the debate. "We believe in you, we're not going anywhere," Trigiani said. "Everybody has a night here and there. Get off his back."

FLOTUS began her remarks at 5:09 PM. She thanked Trigiani for hosting the event. "I love you already," the First Lady said before complimenting Trigiani's writing, applauding her for how she's "taken readers on journeys from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the coast of Italy, always bringing warmth through your storytelling."

FLOTUS, noticing the rising heat and tight quarters, invited attendees to spread out toward her. She encouraged folks to step over the row of ferns places lined up in front of her lectern. "Don't be afraid to step over the plants — they won't protect me!" she joked.

She then offered her remarks on the debate (described in full above) before telling the story of how she accepted Biden's fifth and final marriage proposal. It was the spring of 1977 and he was about to leave on a congressional trip to South Africa. "He gave me an ultimatum," she said. "'When I get back in 10 days, I want an answer, either you marry me or that's it — I'm out!'"

FLOTUS brought up Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." ("In a room of so many authors, I had to just get this in!" she says to laughs.) "Sometimes in life, you're staring at, you know, two roads diverged in the world, and I knew that whatever path I chose, my life would change forever," she said. She talked about valuing her independence — her career, her apartment, being single — and the enormity of being a senator's wife and mother to Biden's two young sons, Beau and Hunter. "After all that they had lost, I knew that if I said yes to Joe's marriage proposal, it had to be forever," she said.

"It's hard to know what you owe a spouse before you came who died before you came along," she continued. "A lot of people wrestle with the fact that the love of their life, you know, loves someone else first, and maybe never stop loving that person." She ultimately concluded, in considering Biden's proposal, that "from the beginning, Joe made it clear that there was room in his heart for both of us," she said.

She noted how Biden had promised her life wouldn't change once they were married. "This, of course, turned out to be wildly untrue," she said. But despite that change, "the character of the man I married has remained the same," she said, describing how he took the train how to read bedtime stories to his sons and wrote the Violence Against Women Act on their front porch.

"He's the husband who never thought his powerful job mattered more than mine, the man who still brings me flowers on the first day of class every semester, because he knows that being a teacher is part of who I am," she continued. "Through the highest peaks and the lowest valleys in our lives, through our pain and our losses and triumphant victories, Joe has been strong and steady, always unflappable, always unflinching."

She then offered her two other comments about the debate (noted above). She lingered on Trump's reported "'losers' and 'suckers'" comment. "You know, words matter," she said. "I see this in my classroom, and I know that you — well, hell, you're authors! You know that words matter. We have to hold people accountable for the work that they use."

FLOTUS then described the moment she and her husband found out he had won the 2020 election. She mentioned it was the Saturday after the election and their house was full of kids and grandkids. She and Biden were down at the pier with their coffee cups that morning when the grandchildren came running out of the house with the news that Biden had won. "It was pure jubilation," she said. She called upon it to motivate those gathered to give money and knock doors. "We have to work harder than we've ever worked before," she said.

That was the end. She wrapped her remarks at 5:21 PM, and the pool was escorted out of the room.

FLOTUS Pool Report - Greenwich Village Fundraiser

A typo to correct from FLOTUS' remarks in the last report:

"You know, words matter," she said. "I see this in my classroom, and I know that you — well, hell, you're authors! You know that words matter. We have to hold people accountable for the words work that they use."

(Your pooler regrets the error and has noted the irony.)