WASHINGTON — Jill Biden told CBS News that she thought her husband was having a stroke while watching the 2024 presidential debate. Her remarks were part of revelations detailed in her forthcoming memoir, "View from the East Wing," scheduled for release on a Tuesday in May 2026.

"I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never," Biden said. She added, "The moment 'scared me to death.'"

In her memoir, Biden writes that she aims to "set the record straight" about what happened during the debate and the months that followed. She also disclosed that she suspected President Biden may have been inadvertently impaired after taking cough syrup before the event.

John Morgan, a Florida trial attorney and major fundraiser for Biden’s 2024 campaign, called the memoir "unhelpful" and said, "Ripping open a healing scab is never helpful." He added, "In my opinion, she was the main problem. She loved the life and didn’t want it to end." Morgan disputed her account, saying he does not believe she is telling the truth and remarked, "If you like fiction it’s good." He also challenged her assertion that she had never seen her husband act similarly since the debate, calling it something that "defies the smell test," and added, "His keys should have been taken long before that night."

The Democratic National Committee released a 192-page postelection report analyzing the 2024 loss, which faulted Kamala Harris and the party’s focus on "identity politics" but did not address Biden’s health or his July 21, 2024, decision to step aside in favor of Harris as the Democratic nominee.