Jill Biden, facing calls for her husband to step down, defends him fiercely

WASHINGTON ? With Washington in an uproar over calls for Joe Biden to abandon his reelection bid and Democrats scrambling to either support or push aside the president, first lady Jill Biden was hustling in the swing states campaigning her heart out.

Dressed in white blazer over a black and white dress, the first lady arrived at Hi-Wire Brewing in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Monday and took on the elephant in the room.

“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” she said. “That’s the decision that he’s made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too.” "Four more years," the crowd shouted.

More: Democrats sound like they're going to back Joe Biden – but concerns haven't vanished

Given her clout, many in the party believe Jill Biden is best positioned to counsel her husband to step aside amid mounting voter concerns swirling around his age and acuity.

But there's no public sign the first lady agrees the president should drop out ? or that she wants the responsibility of telling him to.

According to those who know the family, the buck stops with Joe Biden.

"Jill Biden will be under tremendous pressure to talk to him but he is incredibly stubborn," a former Obama administration official told USA TODAY shortly after the disastrous June 27 debate against Donald Trump, where the president spoke in a faint, halting manner and sometimes struggled to complete sentences.

"I think it's going to come down to Jill. If she chooses to."

Michael LaRosa, who served as the first lady’s press secretary for most of the Biden presidency, disagreed with that assessment.

“She knows him better than anybody and she has a lot of wisdom from her years on the front lines, but she doesn't give him political advice,” he said.

LaRosa said Biden would make a decision after experts like his sister, Valerie Biden ? who has led every campaign in her brother’s political career ? and his close circle of advisors, along with Jill, have weighed in.

“I wouldn't consider her the sole influencer in this kind of situation," LaRosa said. "She's one of several that will inform his decision, but I don't think she would want that burden.”

So far, the first lady has been the president's emissary as much as his consigliere.

Jill Biden has been continuously on the campaign trail, including a three state, one-day tour on Monday hitting Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida to launch a campaign coalition of veterans and military families.

“She was engaged and outgoing,” said Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who rode in the motorcade with the first lady to a July 2 event in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “She was there to talk about education and workforce, which is one of her wheelhouse issues.”

If Jill Biden was under stress, she didn’t show it.

“Everybody wanted their photo with her, they wanted to be able to take a selfie,” said Barragan, who on Monday came out in support of Biden as the chair of Hispanic caucus. “The reception that she got there was so warm and so welcoming.”

Through the turmoil, the first lady, who has been married to the president for 47 years, has emerged as a key figure in Bidenworld as a growing chorus of donors, lawmakers and editorial boards ask her husband to step aside.

On Monday, in North Carolina, she moved on from the campaign firestorm to recall how the Bidens came to “truly” understand the “hard choices” servicemembers and their families make when their son, Beau, joined the Delaware Army National Guard and went to war for a year in Iraq.  "This is personal for us. We know what it's like to connect with a lagging phone call from across the world, to smile through another holiday at the table,” she said.

“Let me ask you this: Does Donald Trump ? does Donald Trump know what it's like?” “No,” the crowd shouted.  She repeated the story ? disputed by the former president ? of how Trump reportedly called fallen American soldiers “losers” and “suckers" after skipping a visit to a World War 1 in Northern France in 2018.

Meanwhile, as of Monday, five Democratic lawmakers had publicly called for Biden to withdraw from the race, including Reps. Lloyd Doggett, Seth Moulton, Raúl Grijalva, Angie Craig and Mike Quigley.

In a letter to House Democrats, the 81-year-old president said Monday that he was “firmly committed” to staying in the race.

Donor Martin Dolan, who shelled out $10,000 to the Biden campaign in April, and now believes Biden should step aside, said he understands why Joe and Jill Biden would think he is the best person to carry the Democratic banner.“Whether it’s the international picture with China, Ukraine, Israel, Europe or the national picture with the infrastructure bill, they've forgiven student debt, they've accomplished the most legislatively,” he said.

So when the president admits he’s not as swift as he used to be, but argues that he brings a wealth of knowledge and ability to the office, Dolan said, “I think that's what they believe.”

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Post-debate Jill Biden emerges as fierce protector and cheerleader