Jill Biden travels to Paris Olympics as her husband passes the torch

By Betsy Klein, CNN

(CNN) — First lady Jill Biden watched on Wednesday night as President Joe Biden told the American people it was time to “pass the torch” on his political career. Then she got on a plane, flying nearly 4,000 miles to Paris, where another torch was being passed.

Jill Biden is arriving in Paris at a monumental time for her husband’s presidency. Stepping aboard her plane moments after the president addressed the nation from the Oval Office, the first lady’s role has rapidly shifted from that of an active and prolific surrogate to a leader racing the clock to the inauguration of a new administration.

Biden is now embarking on a tour of “lasts” in office, starting with her second and final trip to cheer on American athletes at the Olympic Games as first lady.

The trip, which has been in the works long before the president suspended his reelection campaign, will signal how her role may be remembered at home and on the world stage.

It’s a legacy she hinted at in 2021 when traveling with the president to the G7 summit. “I feel that I’m a partner on this journey of healing, bringing together, unity,” Biden told reporters.

That unity will be on display at the Olympic Games, a rare moment in intensely polarized times.

“The First Lady is excited to head to the Olympic Games, where we are all united as a country in support of one team: Team USA,” her spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, said in a statement.

Biden, whom her office described as a devoted sports fan, is expected to greet Olympic athletes and their families during the trip, and will represent the US at the opening ceremony. She will also cheer on Team USA at “various Olympic events,” her office said.

For the past three-and-a-half years, Biden has been the president’s fiercest protector and closest adviser, wielding influence from the White House to the campaign.

“She is Joe Biden’s rock and she has been a rock in this administration — one that the president has depended upon, but senior leadership have looked to for guidance,” said Capricia Marshall, who served as US chief of protocol during the Obama administration and White House social secretary during the Clinton administration.

That role and her support of the president took on some scrutiny in recent weeks after his faltering debate performance.

“Down to the last hours of the decision only he could make, she was supportive of whatever road he chose,” Jill Biden’s communications director Elizabeth Alexander told CNN.

Alexander added, “She’s his biggest believer, champion, and always on his side, in that trusted way only a spouse of almost 50 years can be.”

A reluctant politician, the first lady has been a major surrogate on the campaign trail, criss-crossing the country on the president’s behalf as she worked to bolster his support with key coalitions.

She is expected to continue to be on the road in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, a Harris campaign spokesperson said.

Biden, Marshall said, has sought to elevate issues of importance to her, while also “constantly keeping in mind the president’s agenda and reinforcing that messaging constantly.” One of those issues is women’s health research, which she will highlight Saturday in Paris at an event focused on advancing women’s sports and health innovation with health, sports and business leaders, her office said.

Biden has also focused on education issues, spoken out against gun violence, and highlighted support for US military veterans and families.

“She has been nonstop, hardworking. She wanted to be first lady for everyone, not just those that voted for Joe … and really has embraced the role,” said Anita McBride, who served as a top aide to former first lady Laura Bush.

Biden will also be remembered for “breaking ground,” McBride said, as the first first lady to hold a job outside the White House, teaching English at a Virginia community college.

In one tangible signal of how plans for the Paris trip changed since the president’s decision to drop his reelection bid, Jill Biden had been scheduled to headline a fundraiser for Americans living abroad in Paris. But it’s been rescheduled to be led by second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who picked up the torch of the spouse of the presumptive Democratic nominee and will lead the US delegation to the closing ceremony on August 11.

The first lady previously led the US delegation to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which were rescheduled to the summer of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, Biden provided a dose of normalcy to an otherwise highly unusual Olympics rife with Covid restrictions, including mask mandates and virtually empty stadiums.

Decked in Team USA apparel, Biden was seen cheering, clapping, and at times agonizing over the games, a cheerleader mom stand-in for the American athletes whose parents could not be there in person.

Three years later, Valdivia said, “these Games are especially meaningful for her because when she went to the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021, the athletes couldn’t bring their families with them due to Covid. This time she’ll be able to celebrate the families and cheer with them for their Olympians.”

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