The Wildest Rumors About Jill Biden

The 46th first lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, has kept a positive public image over the years. Like most people in the political spotlight, though, she has been the subject of occasional rumors and controversies. Unsurprisingly, many were either debunked or exaggerated. 

Jill married Joe Biden in her mid-20s after divorcing her first husband, businessman Bill Stevenson. This five-year-long marriage has been the subject of rumors fueled by Stevenson himself. Most notably, he claims his then-wife was having an affair with Joe. Stevenson told the Daily Mail that Jill first crossed paths with Joe in 1972 during his Senate campaign, but that an actual romance between the future first couple started in 1974. He claims Jill once skipped attending a Bruce Springsteen concert with him to babysit Joe's kids. He also recalled a friend of Jill's warning him that she and Joe had grown "too close" and learning that Joe was in the driver's seat of Jill's car when it was involved in a fender bender. For Stevenson, these instances were enough to drive him to the conclusion that the two were having an affair. "I was betrayed by the Bidens," he told Inside Edition. "Joe was my friend. Jill was my wife."

Both Jill and Joe have consistently stated that they met on a blind date in 1975, after her marriage with Stevenson had already ended. This was fact-checked and confirmed by Reuters. We must also keep in mind that Stevenson is an avid Trump supporter, to the point of calling him "a president that I love and respect" on Greg Kelly's Newsmax show. Such allegiance raises the question of why he decided to throw shade at the couple amid the 2020 election. Unfortunately for Jill, her ex's accusation isn't the only rumor the former FLOTUS has struggled to escape from.

It's no secret that Jill Biden loves teaching. The former first lady has a distinguished career as a teacher and professor and obtained a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007. Even during her time as first lady, she kept teaching English and writing at a Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). However, not everyone buys her academic history. Rumors have been going around for years that Biden's doctoral degree is illegitimate or honorary. 

In 2020, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed urging the professor to drop the "Dr." in her title because it seemed phony. The writer argued that, even if it were legit, a doctor in education shouldn't go by "doctor" — although everyone who has a Ph.D. in subjects from physics to literature can use the title. Fox News uploaded a YouTube video on the subject, and viewers did not hold back in their skepticism of Dr. Biden's credentials. "She's about as much of a doctor as her husband is a President... Which is ZERO!!!" wrote one YouTube user. "I wonder if she got her PHD the same way her husband got his position, by cheating?" read another comment. On X, formerly known as Twitter, conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly similarly scoffed at Biden's "fake title." 

Forbes quickly came forward to fact-check Biden's credentials: She wrote a 137-long dissertation, with 80 pages of text plus references and appendices, titled "Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs" — a clear and legitimate academic achievement. Also, NOVA's president, Anne Kress, praised her career. "She leaves a lasting legacy in the lives of the students she taught," she told the Associated Press.

Joe Biden's performance in the 2024 presidential debate sparked concerns around the country about his age and health. It raised major alarm bells for members of the Democratic Party, and The New York Times editorial board even urged the then-president to drop out of the race. However, according to the BBC, Jill Biden has been unwavering in her support of Biden. Netizens even speculate that Dr. Biden might have encouraged him to stay in the election despite knowing that he was not physically or mentally fit for the job.

In turn, a Dr. Biden and Nancy Pelosi beef came to light, as the 52nd speaker of the House of Representatives supported swapping Biden for Kamala Harris as the nominee. Pelosi even told The New York Times that if Biden had "gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race". Dr. Biden did not take these claims well. She referred to Pelosi in a negative light, telling The Washington Post that she "was disappointed with how it unfolded" and "learned a lot about human nature." The Daily Mail even reported on an insider that claimed the educator felt "resentment" about how things unfolded. So, if the then-first lady couldn't fathom an opposition to her husband, could she really have been pushing him to stay in the race, even if the speculations about his declining health are true?

"Jill was just as bad letting him continue and lying about his condition," read one of the top comments in a Fox News video on the claims, an apparent shared sentiment in the American right. "She knew her husband wasn't well! She is just as guilty for allowing him to be the world's clown. Shameful," another YouTube user commented.

Rumors about tension between Jill Biden and former vice president Kamala Harris aren't new. New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns claimed in their book that Jill was against Kamala being her husband's running mate in the 2020 election. However, these rumors were through the roof when Harris replaced Joe Biden as the nominee for the Democratic Party in the 2024 elections. 

For instance, when Dr. Biden and Harris sat together at a Veterans Day event, right-wing personalities like former Trump advisor Steve Cortes and writer Oli London stirred up the chatter on X by saying their body language was chilly, to say the least. To add fuel to the fire, during a 2024 Holiday event at the White House, Dr. Biden encouraged Americans to "feel joy now." Harris had just lost the election, though, so the audience burst into laughter. "You're all reading into that!" she exclaimed between laughs (via YouTube).

Shortly after, in January 2025, the two sat together at the funeral of President Jimmy Carter. In the YouTube videos available, both women are seen just staring forward, avoiding eye contact, and it even seems like Dr. Biden scoots away from Harris for a moment. It doesn't help that Joe Biden told USA Today he would have beaten Trump if he stayed in the race, seemingly blaming his vice president for an unsuccessful campaign — a sentiment that, if true, is perhaps shared by his wife. 

"Jill DEFINITELY voted for President Trump," wrote right-wing journalist Nick Sortor on X. Alongside his comment is a picture of her and Donald Trump having a chat days before his second term started. The tweet gathered over 23,000 likes, with netizens agreeing in the replies that she and her husband hate Harris.

Even though Jill Biden grew up Presbyterian, she has attended Catholic mass with Joe Biden for decades. And just like him, she supports policies and organizations that advocate for reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ issues that supposedly contradict traditional Christian values. For these reasons, many speculate that the couple is just pretending to be religious as a political tactic. 

According to Pew Research, some Republicans even call Joe Biden a "Catholic in name only" and believe his stance on abortion should disqualify him from receiving Communion. In the video we linked to above where Jill Biden encourages folks to feel joy during the holidays, most comments did not take her speech the right way. "She is literally unable to say 'Christmas' or even 'Hanukkah,' just vague references to 'peace,' 'light,' 'joy,' during 'this season,'" one of the top comments read. "Very obvious she's not comfortable with anything to do with Christ," someone else wrote. 

Dr. Biden has been open about her faith being "broken" when her son Beau died in 2015 from brain cancer, as she told the Associated Press. He was only 46 years old. The first lady shared her frustration with praying for her son to survive and having those prayers go unanswered. However, a service in South Carolina helped her revive her faith and spirituality. The pastor's wife accompanied her as a prayer partner, and her kindness helped Dr. Biden on the path to recovering her faith. "It was as if God was saying to me, 'OK, Jill. You had enough time. It's time to come home,'" she told the Associated Press. According to the outlet, she now credits faith for guiding her to help "a country in need of healing."

In mid-2024, the internet was shocked to see Jill Biden attending the Paris Olympics when pictures of her at the White House had just come out. Netizens started wondering how she got to France so quickly, to which many GOP members responded with a simple answer: She has a body double to be in both places simultaneously. This is not entirely surprising, given the Republican Party's history of spreading misinformation while using terms like "alternative facts" to justify their views — even if they lack evidence. With Donald Trump at the helm of the GOP, who constantly spreads baseless conspiracy theories, many elected officials do the same without facing consequences. 

For instance, Senator Wendy Rogers shared a post on X claiming that Jill Biden was in Paris and Washington, D.C., at the same time, adding the words "Body double?" She also shared a post that claimed that Joe Biden had grown taller, hinting that he also was using a double. Similarly, Representative Joseph Chaplik retweeted journalist Sharlyn Attkinsson's post that read, "It is a fact that presidents have body doubles and decoys for security reasons." Even popular right-wing personalities, such as YouTuber Matt Wallace, have spread the body double conspiracies to their millions of followers.

However, Reuters thoroughly fact-checked these claims, confirming that Jill Biden was present at the White House for the president's speech but left shortly afterward to travel to France while President Biden remained in Washington. This explained why some photos showed him alone at the White House while others featured Jill Biden in Paris. Reuters even provided timestamps for each photo cited by conspiracy theorists.