At a campaign event after the debate, Jill Biden praised her husband’s performance.
You answered every question,” she said at the time.
Perino contrasted those comments with more recent claims attributed to Jill Biden and raised questions about the apparent inconsistency.
“Joe, you did such a great job
“So now we know that this is what she’s saying in her book,” Perino said. “And the question I would love to ask her is where are you lying then or now?”
“It’s a great question,” McEnany said. “That is not the reaction of someone who believes they just watched their husband have a stroke. It is an absolute lie.”
McEnany then accused the former first lady of concealing concerns about the president’s condition from voters.
McEnany responded by arguing that Jill Biden’s reaction following the debate was inconsistent with her more recent descriptions of the event
“What she did fraud on the American public and she’s continuing it by saying she had never seen him like that before or after.”
The debate between Biden and President Donald Trump became a turning point in the 2024 election cycle, with many Democrats publicly expressing concern about Biden’s performance and his ability to continue his campaign.
🚨 "What she did: FRAUD on the American public"@kayleighmcenany slams Jill Biden for admitting that she was "frightened" by Joe Biden's disastrous 2024 debate, despite praising his performance moments after he left the stage.@FoxNews pic.twitter.com/7Pld2dAYYU
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) May 28, 2026
During the Fox News discussion, McEnany referenced comments previously made by veteran journalist Carl Bernstein regarding Biden’s condition behind the scenes.
“It was fraud,” she said
According to McEnany, Bernstein reported that individuals close to Biden had observed similar episodes before the debate.
“They said it had happened 15 or 20 times prior, him losing his train of thought,” she said.
“He described a fundraiser where he froze up and seemed to have some type of rigor mortis,” she said.
Questions about Biden’s age and mental sharpness had circulated for years, but the debate intensified those concerns and fueled calls from some Democrats for him to step aside
“This is not something that was a one-off.”
“This was well known,” she said.
She then questioned why Jill Biden continued publicly defending her husband following the debate.
“Dana, you all remember Carl Bernstein, who said he talked to people who knew Joe Biden, loved Joe Biden, supported Joe Biden, and they were adamant that what we saw was not a one-off,” McEnany said
The former first lady has repeatedly defended her husband and rejected claims that she or members of his inner circle concealed concerns about his health, Breitbart News reported.
The debate over Biden’s condition became one of the defining political stories of the 2024 election cycle and continued after he ultimately left the race.
Neither Jill Biden nor representatives for the former president immediately responded to McEnany’s latest remarks.
McEnany also cited a fundraiser Bernstein reportedly described
As new books and accounts from those involved continue to emerge, questions surrounding Biden’s final campaign and the decisions made by those closest to him remain a major topic of political debate.
