I Wanna Get Wawa and Pull Pranks With Jill Biden
"As I said many times before, I’m Jill’s husband," president-elect Joe Biden said during his 17-minute acceptance address last week. He went on to praise her credentials as a military mom,
educator, and support system. "For America’s educators, this is a great day," he continued. "You’re going to have one of your own in the White House, and Jill is going to make a great first lady."
Long before Joe's ode to his wife of 43 years, Dr. Biden was making her case as a cool potential FLOTUS. While on the campaign trail, she went viral for stopping hecklers dead in their tracks and matter-of-factly enforcing the six feet apart mandate. Jill matches her masks to her outfits and maintains a spirited Instagram feed, all while grading stacks of papers. She even plans to remain an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College while in the White House. After all, Jill kept her day job while serving as Second Lady (she preferred
View this post on InstagramHow it started vs. How it’s going
A post shared by Dr. Jill Biden (@drbiden) on
Jill's always been effortlessly charming, from the very first words she spoke to Joe back in 1975. "How did you get this number?" she reportedly said. Decades later, her time as First Lady is coming not a moment too soon. Here's why.
She lives for a worthwhile prank.
"I would say she's not your average grandmother," Naomi Biden, one of Joe and Jill's grandchildren, said in a DNC video. "She's the grandmother that wakes you up at, what was it, 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve to go SoulCycle-ing."
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dr. Jill Biden (@drbiden) on
Naomi added, "She's a prankster, she's very mischievous. When she goes on a run, sometimes she'll find, like, a dead snake and she'll pick it up and put it in a bag, and she'll use it to scare someone."
As legend has it, Jill pulled several pranks during her years as Second Lady. At an Obama/Biden rally, she once placed a plastic rat on the podium where Joe gave his speech. Jill also wore disguises in the White House, including a
Hecklers are no match for Jill.
When Jill isn't setting up booby traps, she's putting hecklers in their place. In February, a protester tried to approach the podium where Biden was speaking in New Hampshire. She quickly approached the man and escorted him off the stage.
You can take the girl out of Philly... https://t.co/tiAbSEnH14
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) February 11, 2020
The following month, Jill interceded again at Joe's Super Tuesday rally when two Anti-Dairy protestors stormed the area. Photos of Jill mixing it up with the pair went viral.
Just an incredible still photograph of Dr Jill Biden protecting Joe against protestors.
She is a badass.#SuperTuesdsypic.twitter.com/F6xoYzC0eO
— ? Koko ? ? (@Kokomothegreat) March 4, 2020
"I’m probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service. Whoa, you don’t screw around with a Philly girl, I’ll tell you what," Joe later told attendees at a Los Angeles fundraiser, per USA Today. He added, "I thought I heard on the news on the way over that that the committee in charge of Secret Service decided they have to start providing Secret Service for us. I think that's because they're afraid Jill's going to hurt someone. I tell you what man, I married way above my station."
She's a social-distancing pro.
Campaigning in 2020 has looked differently for candidates, as masks and social distancing are the new normal. But while members of the Trump coalition often bucked against mask-wearing or other CDC guidelines, Jill has enforced the rules with ease. While Joe spoke to a group of reporters in Miami, she walked over to her husband and calmly positioned him to ensure a safe six-feet distance.
Get you a partner that looks out for you like @DrBiden does for @JoeBiden ✨ pic.twitter.com/sNxhKVnoXt
— Drew Heskett (@DrewHeskett) October 5, 2020
She's unafraid to troll Trump.
While Trump coined Biden "Sleepy Joe," Jill resisted name-calling on the campaign trail. What she did do was artfully reference his presidency now and then. There was Joe's "We Just Did" hat, in response to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
He will be a President for all of our families. pic.twitter.com/iGPKLMMIcK
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) November 7, 2020
And the time she excitedly proclaimed "You're fired" at a campaign event.
Are you ready to vote? pic.twitter.com/Yk2hzPJJGW
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) November 3, 2020
As for Joe's occasional gaffes, Jill told CNN's Jake Tapper they pale in comparison to Trump's rhetoric.
Her campaign food posts are everything.
One of the surprising joys of Jill's social media are her culinary-themed posts. While traveling the country, she likes to broadcast the meals she shared with locals, from lobsters in Maine to Sheetz in Pittsburgh.
I’m a Philly girl so normally I’d stop at WaWa, but I’m in Pittsburgh today so Sheetz it is! pic.twitter.com/DtHBMy6u9Z
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) November 2, 2020
But her ultimate feel-good foodie content has to be this September 29 post, captioned without context, "Cherry jam!!!" That's not one, but three exclamation points for seasonal jelly!!!
She's known to rock aviators and outfit-coordinated masks.
Joe has long made headlines for his aviator sunglasses. But Jill is also a lover of the classic eyewear, as evidenced by this throwback post:
View this post on InstagramWe Bidens sure do love our aviators #TBT
A post shared by Dr. Jill Biden (@drbiden) on
And the enduring image from the second presidential debate wasn't of either Trump or Joe. It was Jill, wearing a face mask that perfectly matched her floral Oscar de la Renta dress. It's hard to imagine her ever wearing an "I don't really care, do u?" jacket, no? It also gives one hope about this administration's Christmas decor.
She's continuing to teach while serving as First Lady.
But perhaps the coolest thing about Jill Biden is that she has a RateMyProfessors score. (From the looks of it, most student reviews are positive, save for her tough grading criteria). CNN has labeled Dr. Biden “first professor FLOTUS,” as she's declared she'll keep teaching English while completing East Wing duties. “I like working,” she told Vogue. “Like so many of your readers, I’m a working woman. [Teaching is] my passion. That’s what I love doing. That has been my career and really a major focus in my life, so I feel like I could handle it and do everything else that first ladies want to do.”
Teaching is not what I do. It's who I am.
I'll be giving my convention speech tonight from my former classroom.
Brandywine High School. Room 232. pic.twitter.com/NXx1EkqVGq
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) August 18, 2020