Jill Biden is speaking out to reveal why she surprisingly refused to allow Michelle Obama to attend her mother’s funeral.
Jill’s Mother Passes Away
Jill, 75, is currently promoting her new memoir “View from the East Wing,” which hit stores last Tuesday. In the book, Jill revealed why she refused to let Michelle, 62, attend her mother’s funeral back in 2008.
Jill’s mother Bonny Jean Jacobs died on October 5, 2008 at the age of 78. This could not have been worse timing for Jill, as the death came right at the peak of the 2008 presidential campaign. At the time, her husband Joe Biden was the running mate of Barack Obama, who was one month away from his first presidential victory.
In an excerpt from her book that was obtained by Radar Online, Jill recalled receiving an urgent message from a Secret Service agent while she was out for a run near her home in Delaware.
“We got a call. You have to go home,” the agent reportedly told Jill.
Jill immediately rushed to be at her mother’s bedside, where she was joined by her four sisters.
“Even though she wasn’t conscious, my mother held on until Sunday, when all five of us were there with her, and then she died,” Jill wrote.
This was an especially difficult time for Jill. Her husband Joe was busy campaigning with Barack, and her stepson Beau was preparing to be deployed to Iraq.
Jill Bans Michelle From Funeral
Jill spent a few days with her family before returning to her campaign duties. It was then that Michelle reached out.
“As soon as my mother’s death was announced, Michelle Obama called from the campaign trail,” Jill recalled. She added that after offering her condolences, Michelle adamantly stated, “I’ll see you at the funeral.”
Jill, however, wasn’t having any of it. Though she acknowledged that this was a kind gesture, she also felt like she had good reason to not want Michelle anywhere near her mother’s funeral.
Jill knew that if Michelle attended the funeral, she would bring reporters and cameras right along with her. Indeed, this would turn her mother’s funeral into a national event in which Michelle would be the main focus. On top of that, Jill simply did not view Michelle as a close friend at the time. That’s why she told Michelle that her presence at the funeral might not be such a good idea.
“I have four sisters,” Jill remembered telling Michelle. “This funeral is going to be so hard on them, and it has to be about my sisters losing a mother. It can’t be just about me. I’m afraid that if you’re there, the press will treat it as a major event and pull focus away from my sisters.”
Michelle appeared to take the rejection in stride, bluntly telling Jill, “I totally get it.”
Yikes! That sounds like a rather awkward exchange, doesn’t it?
Another Facade From The Bidens?
For decades, the Bidens have tried to portray themselves as being close personal friends with the Obamas. Judging by this situation, however, it appears that the two couples may never have been close after all. Perhaps the so-called friendship with the Obamas is just another facade out of the many that the Bidens have cultivated over the years.
In the end, we’re just glad that both the Bidens and the Obamas are no longer in the White House. Good riddance to them all!