First Lady Jill Biden opened up about how she really feels about her husband, President Joe Biden, dropping out of the presidential race in July. In a candid interview with Good Morning America, she admitted that his decision was “the right call.”
“I’ve had such a great four years,” she said to ABC News’ Deborah Roberts on Monday. “I mean, really, it has been the honor of our lives. It’ll be tough to maybe step away from it, but we’re starting a new chapter of our lives. A new journey.”
“We’ve been in politics for over 50 years,” she continued. “It was the right call.”
This marks the first time Dr. Biden has talked about her 81-year-old husband’s dramatic exit, which cleared the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run as the Democratic nominee against former President Donald Trump. But it doesn’t look like there are any hard feelings — during the same interview, the first lady was also enthusiastic about a potential Harris presidency.
“There’s a lot of energy out there,” she told the network. “Kamala Harris is going to win this, and it’s going to be just another chapter for the White House.”
Dr. Biden’s appearance comes as she promotes a reimagined tour of the White House, which was completed in collaboration with the History Channel and the National Park Service. (It feels very Jackie Kennedy, if you ask us.) The transformation — the first in decades — brings the rich history of the building to life through touchable artifacts and 3D renderings, including paintings and illustrations of its renovations over the years. “For instance, you may not have known that the White House didn’t always have water or electricity,” she told ABC.
The multimillion-dollar revamp also includes opening never-before-seen parts of the White House. That means visitors can now walk into the China Room, which stores the dishes and silverware used by various presidencies. They can even venture into the Diplomatic Reception Room, where President Franklin Roosevelt gave his iconic radio addresses known as the “fireside chats.”
More than 10,000 people tour the White House each week, and the First Lady hopes the upgrades will provide a more inclusive learning experience for everyone who walks through those famous doors.
“There are visual learners, auditory learners, or tactile learners,” Dr. Biden, who was an educator for 40 years, explained. “So we’ve tried to address that all throughout the tour — if you have one strength or another, that’s how you learn.”
With just three months to go before a new president takes office, more additions are on the way. The History Channel is already set to film a new welcome video during the presidential transition.
“It’s the People’s House,” President Biden said at an event celebrating the new tours on Sunday. “We’re just renters.”
