Jill Biden thought husband was 'having a stroke' during disastrous debate against Trump in 2024

Former first lady Jill Biden.

Former first lady Jill Biden said she "was frightened" while watching then-President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance nearly two years ago, and that she thought her husband was "having a stroke" during the monumental meltdown that significantly upended the 2024 presidential race. 

"I was frightened because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since," Jill Biden told Rita Braver in an interview set to air on CBS Sunday Morning this week. "I don't know what happened. I mean, when I as I watched it, I thought, 'Oh my God, he's having a stroke.' And it scared me to death."

Biden's shocking performance in the debate, which occurred in late June of 2024, rattled the Democrat party to its core and prompted party insiders to force Biden to exit the race, particularly after Trump survived an assassination attempt that was broadcast on live TV a couple of weeks later. They installed Kamala Harris as the new nominee, without holding a primary, and she went on to lose to Trump that November in the general election.

Jill Biden is on tour promoting her new book View from the East Wing: A Memoir, which is the ostensible reason for the interview. CBS released a 30-second teaser to promote the interview a day after lawyers for Joe Biden filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department in an attempt to block the release of roughly 70 hours of unflattering interview recordings that prompted special counsel Robert Hur to describe Biden as and "elderly man with a poor memory" in 2024 when he concluded his investigation into the mishandling of classified information. 

Watch the clip from CBS below.