More than two years after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, Jill Biden says she still can’t explain what happened — and she isn’t completely dismissing one of the wildest theories surrounding that night.
The former first lady was asked whether her husband could have been drugged before the June 2024 debate, when Biden repeatedly stumbled over his words, appeared confused and struggled to complete some answers.
Her response?
“Who knows? Who knows, right?”
The startling comment came during Jill Biden’s appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, where she opened up about the debate that ultimately helped trigger a political crisis inside the Democratic Party and preceded Biden’s decision to abandon his reelection campaign.
Jill Says Something Was Clearly Off
Jill, 75, said she knew her husband was tired and wasn’t feeling well before taking the stage against Trump, but insisted she still has no definitive explanation for why his performance went so badly.
“I mean, there’s all kinds of theories,” she said, pointing to Biden’s heavy travel schedule at the time.
“He didn’t feel well that day when I saw him, but there was nothing definitive that I could point to.”
Podcast host Jamie Kern Lima then raised an explosive possibility: Could somebody have “laced his drink or something?”
Rather than flatly rejecting the suggestion, Jill replied, “Who knows? Who knows, right?”
The former first lady stressed that she wasn’t with Biden for much of the period leading up to the debate because she had been campaigning separately. She said she only saw him for roughly an hour beforehand.
Doctors Checked Biden After Debate
Jill also revealed just how worried she became while watching her husband struggle in front of millions of Americans.
She wondered whether something medically serious had happened and later asked doctors if Biden was okay.
According to Jill, physicians examined him after the debate and reassured her that he was fine. Reports about her new interview say doctors also ruled out a stroke.
But that apparently did little to solve the mystery for Jill.
She said Biden’s shaky debate performance was particularly baffling because he appeared much more like himself almost immediately afterward.
Biden Suddenly ‘Fine’ Again
Following the debate, Biden appeared at a campaign event, stopped at a Waffle House and then traveled to North Carolina, where supporters greeted him in the early-morning hours.
“He was fine,” Jill recalled.
She said Biden got onstage, delivered remarks, greeted people and shook hands — behavior she said seemed dramatically different from what Americans had just watched during the debate.
That contrast has apparently left Jill wondering about the night ever since.
“That is my honest-to-God true answer,” she said. “I don’t know.”
Debate Became Turning Point for Biden
Biden’s performance against Trump immediately sparked questions about whether the then-81-year-old president was capable of handling another four years in office.
Democratic lawmakers, donors and political commentators increasingly called for Biden to step aside in the weeks that followed.
He eventually ended his reelection campaign in July 2024, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the Democratic ticket. Trump ultimately defeated Harris in the November election.
The former president’s health has remained under scrutiny since leaving office.
In May 2025, Biden’s office announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
There has been no evidence establishing that Biden’s cancer or any alleged drugging played a role in his debate performance.
But Jill’s refusal to completely dismiss the drugging theory is certain to add another layer of intrigue to one of the most consequential — and bizarre — debate performances in modern presidential politics.
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So I guess he was drugged every day of his Presidency too! She’s just like him- a lying clown!
I think Jill was/is drugged.
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
Jill, maybe you are on drugs,,,,
I think it was all stress related. He had been spoon fed at his official events, so I think he freaked out when put in this situation. When it was over, the stress was gone and so was his weird behavior.
That’s BS. Biden’s Mind had been slipping during his entire last term and now it appears he has Alzheimer’s
The debate was regular Joe Biden; maybe more tired than usual. I think he was drugged before his SOU speech though- he was unusually confident and animated. As a physician, I wonder if he was on dexamehasone which can cause euphoria and elevated activity and self confidence. I have seen that effect in several patients….
Let the BS fly. I personally believe he was abducted by aliens and they studied what was left of his brain in order to see how he was still alive.
What brain. They returned him to mother earth because they found absolutely nothing inside his skull cavity other than cobwebs. They assumed that he was nothing more than a malfunctioning robot.
For Pete’s sake Dr Jill. Get over it. He’d crossed over the line and entered into the world of senility by the time of the debates.