Extremely elderly readers of this blog may remember when former first lady Edith Wilson secretly played the role of president while her husband Woodrow lay abed, recovering from a stroke.
Now Tucker Carlson and many others in the right-wing media bubble are convinced — or at least pretending to be convinced — that Jill Biden is playing Edith Wilson to Joe’s Woodrow.
Their proof? A picture released by the White House showing Jill sitting at the president’s desk on Air Force One, surrounded by assorted documents. She was, the caption said, “Preparing for the G-7.”
Conservatives, already convinced that Joe is a doddering old fool unfit for his job, jumped on the picture as proof that it’s really Jill, not Joe, who’s running the show.
Carlson has this to say about the picture:
The White House publicity team released this action shot today of Dr. Jill, who we should tell you, by the way, is not actually a doctor, hitting the books, as she readies herself to represent America in the global family of nations. … She’s got her reading glasses on and a pen in hand. You can see her husband’s monogrammed jacket on the chair behind her. She’s sitting at Joe Biden’s own desk on Air Force One. So the point couldn’t be clearer: Dr. Jill’s in charge now.
Other right-wingers — on social media, and in the right-wing press itself — found themselves thinking similar thoughts about the picture.
“Photo of Jill Biden ‘Prepping for the G7’ Sparks Questions Over Who’s in Charge” blared a headline on Alex Jones’ InfoWars.
J.D. Rucker of The Liberty Daily sniffed,
That doesn’t look like a binder full of Japanese customs or light reading about Italian food. It appears to be a much more important series of documents that Dr. Jill needs in order to prepare. What exactly is she preparing for in her very limited role as the spouse of a world leader?
Or is she the world leader herself? …
The First Lady of the United States has absolutely zero power. Jill Biden has not been given any other official roles. It is not only inappropriate for her to be part of our nation’s representation at the summit. It has to make us wonder who’s really running the country.
Sophie O’Hara of WayneDupreee.com concurred:
It seems like at this point the Biden team is barely trying to hide the fact that Joe seems incapable of doing his job.
We all know that there’s someone pulling the strings for Joe and this new photo of Jill Biden might be a big giveaway of who it is.
Take a look – it’s “Doctor” Jill sitting behind the “president’s” desk doing G7 “work.” …
Seriously where is Joe in this photo?
Is he off in the corner eating an ice cream cone with his blankie?
Bonchie of RedState.com has a slightly less dramatic interpretation of the photo.
I’m not sure how it hasn’t dawned on me before, but I think I have the reason figured out behind this campaign to make Jill Biden seem so presidential – I think she’s going to run for president.
Really, just hear me out. We know that Jill Biden is nakedly ambitious at a level we haven’t seen since Hillary Clinton, whose presidential run we are all familiar with. She drug her husband through a deeply uncomfortable 2020 presidential campaign that he was clearly not physically and mentally up for. As president, things have only gotten worse for Joe Biden, yet Jill Biden’s ambition has hardly slowed down. Rather, she’s seemingly put herself ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris when it comes to assignments and publicity.
The right-wingers not only hate the idea of Jill Biden as president (officially or unofficially); they also hate her clothes, in particular the jacket she sported at the summit, with the word “LOVE” across the back in a not-very-subtle rebuke to Melania Trump’s infamous “I really don’t care, do u?” jacket.
David Kamiomer of LifeZette offered this fashion critique:
Joe Biden was clueless, wandering around on a stage like a dazed Methuselah. First Lady Jill Biden, doing her best Edith Wilson imitation, had to admonish him to focus and remember where he was. And this guy has his finger on the button.
But the worst faux pas, the worst injury to our national reputation, had to do with Jill Biden’s apparel. Like some 1970s teenager, she sported a jacket with the word “love” embroidered in sequins on the back. Her disco skank wardrobe likely did not go over well with discerning Brits of any stripe.
I don’t know about that; the Brits seem fairly accommodating when it comes to odd attire. I mean, this is the guy they sent to the G7 summit, who dresses like this
… when he’s not dressing like this:
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They also said that about Obama and Clinton and probably Carter, although I wasn’t around then and haven’t got direct memories of it like the other two.
Funny how I’ve only ever heard “ambitious” being considered a negative trait when it’s a woman.
“It is not only inappropriate for her to be part of our nation’s representation at the summit.”
But wait, I thought the Republicans enthusiastically approved of much more egregious nepotism…
It’s completely inappropriate for the president’s wife to be at the summit, but Javanka going to summits was A-OK?
And it really chaps Tucker’s ass that Jill Biden wipes the floor with him academically.
None of these right wing publications, of course, mention just how much of the day-to-day running of the Executive Branch in the late 80s was done by Nancy Reagan …
Well, that’s because she was drugging him.
How they are able to say that without their brain either rebooting or seeing the hypocrisy is fascinating.
Ooh, look, a new opportunity for them to insult her doctorate, too!
@Ohlmann: They run off the brain stem.
It’s probably just an abbreviated guide to Cornish customs. Wouldn’t want a pasty related faux pas.
(For Morgs)
Or even a binder full of women.
The previous guy liked to pose with a Sharpie hovering over a blank sheet of paper. His daily briefings had to have small words, simple graphs and illustrations, with his own name sprinkled throughout to keep his attention. Trump’s “hard at work” sessions were all heavily staged to cover up his breathtaking incompetence, so they assume Democrats are also trying to hide something with their photo ops.
Tucker just can’t stand to see an intelligent woman taking charge of anything, or working as a team with her husband.
Everyone knows that it is fine to have your unelected kids and useless slumlord son-in-law run your administration so long as you never listen to your wife.
Does anyone remember the pic of Socks, the Clinton’s tomcat, sitting at the President’s desk in the Oval Office? Unwisely, perhaps, President Clinton said that Socks was always welcome?
I’d prefer President Socks Clinton over a few recent office holders.
@ dormousing_it
“This action may seem drastic; but the intelligence is clear. Next door’s dog was developing weapons of mass destruction.”
Of course, cats pull all the strings. Literally and metaphorically.
OT but my husband is doing something that I think is dangerous about his weight and I’m heavily concerned. I was hoping to ask you lot for advice
He has decided to do water fasting for 2 weeks. I think that is far to long to do water fasting. I’m against water fasting in almost ever way. he’s trying to go from 185 to 170 and I think 15 pounds is way to much to lose in two weeks.
@ elaine
I never comment on anyone else’s fitness regimes unless they themselves ask me to; but there’s some info here you could share with him.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/water-fasting
@Elaine, no proper expertise from me but fwiw I completely agree with you. That would be what, about 7kg … that’s a lot of mass in a very short time, and bodies naturally ‘try’ not to do that!
From everything I’ve ever read, going for rapid change tends to be short-lived (and therefore pretty much self-defeating, since you end up back where you started) and overall tends to be bad for your health (and of course thinner/lighter =!= healthier anyway). I bet he’s just fine as he is.
If he’s really set on having a go at making changes, might he at least consider trying something more gradual? If he’s the kind of person who likes a challenge, there’s always the point that sticking to a modest adjustment over a long period of time is a harder challenge really!
all the best to you both
@Elaine
His annual in two weeks?
Water fasting is dumb as hell, even if he makes sure to use Dioralyte and a triple dose of multivits all the time. Sure, he’ll make weight, but his condition will be fucked for a couple months.
Me, I used to either lose a couple kilos and swallow the penalty (half day’s pay per pound, I think it were) or hit the gym and muscle up – way easier to dodge the penalty if you’re over muscled than just overweight.
I find it amusing that they are insulting her doctorate by saying she’s “not a real doctor”. It makes it sound as though they don’t know what a doctorate is (lol, probably true). A doctorate is a real degree, you dumbasses; just because you are not practicing medicine doesn’t mean you are not “real”….*eyeroll*
@Alan Robertshaw: I love Larry. His wanting-in-the-door behavior is so very typical for a cat.
@Elaine the Witch: Is your husband planning on exercising while he’s on this fast?
This reminds me of a diet program I read about recently. It’s called All In by Teddi. The first phase is 2 weeks long, during which you do 1 hour of cardio a day, and eat about 500 calories a day. You’re assigned a diet/exercise coach – you have to provide them with proof of your weigh-ins and exercise sessions.
The price is $599.00. This made me so angry when I read about it. Basically, $599.00 for an eating disorder. And, they don’t give refunds, if you want out.
“Do you want to go out; or do you want to stay in? Just make your bloody mind up!”
And that folks, is why you should never let cats dictate your relationship with the EU.
@Dormousing_it
That’s even more horrible because All In is a genuinely amazing specifically not-diet eating plan for people who are in the fitness world and have trouble with image and eating problems already. Stephanie Buttermore’s All In stuff explains it way better than I could, but it’s about taking care of yourself and <em>not</em> starving yourself as a specific change from, in her case, when she basically was starving herself all the time.
To have someone come along and corrupt that to an anorexic diet plan is revolting.
@Elaine the Witch
Because you have specifically asked for advice: Tell your husband the weight he’s going to lose on a fast like that, or any stringent diet in the first two weeks, will be mostly gut and water weight in any case, as his colon empties and he doesn’t replace the raw matter. That’s why diets so often plateau or dramatically taper off after the first couple of weeks, unless they’re super unhealthy: because all the easy “weight” is gone. It won’t stay off, it’ll come back as soon as he starts eating anything, and it’s in no way healthy for someone of that weight to lose that much at a time. It’s not even healthy for someone of my vastly greater weight to lose that fast, and I would never do it (now, I have in the past and it was a stupidshit idea that fucked my metabolism like you wouldn’t believe).
The Big in Big Titty Demon is real, real big, and I’ve tried lots and lots of fad shit over my life. It ain’t gonna work. What has worked is steady weightlifting and a healthy whole-food-focused diet (diet here meaning “what I eat” not “calorie restrictions in any way”). I’ve lost 50 pounds over 1 year in this fashion, and would not even try to lose it faster.
Why doesn’t Number 10 have a cat flap?
I know I shouldn’t attempt to apply any kind of rational thinking to right wing conspiracy theories, but if FLOTUS is secretly running the country, why would she have a picture taken of herself at POTUS’ desk and put on social media? That’s not very good secrecy.
I guess that’s the problem with a lot of conspiracy theories though. Why do these shadowy cabals deliberately leave obvious clues everywhere?