Jill Biden: ‘What This Election Will Be About Is Democracy’
First lady issues a stark warning about preserving democracy at California fundraising event the day after Cedars-Sinai Medical Center visit.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden warned a room of about 100 supporters at a Los Angeles fundraising event midday Saturday that the stakes were high in the upcoming election.
“I wish that this election were about simple policy differences. I wish it were about differences of character or merit. But fundamentally, what this election will be about is democracy,” Biden says.
The first lady’s fundraiser in Los Angeles was held at NeueHouse Hollywood and was hosted by Matthew Crowley and Martha Leon De La Barra in support of the Biden Victory Fund, according to the Biden-Harris campaign. She spoke for about 11 minutes and the message she was trying to convey was clear as the 2024 presidential election year nears.
“We are the party defending it, not the one tearing it at its seams,” she continues, referring again to democracy. “We are the party that holds sacred the peaceful transfer of power, not the one that assaulted the Capitol on January 6. You and I — we are the party protecting the right of this nation’s people to live freely, not the one praising the oppressive thumb of dictators.”
The first lady also spoke about her husband, Joe Biden, and his accomplishments in his first term. “He’s passed the boldest climate change legislation in American history. He put Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court. And he’s guided one of the strongest economic recoveries in modern history,” she says. She also mentioned the administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices and cap insulin prices for seniors.
She closed her remarks asking the audience to remember how they felt after the 2016 presidential election when Democrats “fell short.”
“Remember how you woke up and you said to yourself, ‘my God, what just happened?’ We can’t let that happen again. Because I don’t want to wake up with that feeling again. I don’t want to say to myself, ‘oh we should have started earlier, or we should have done more.’ No, we have to begin now.”
Jill Biden tours Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
On Friday, as part of the new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, the first lady visited Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where she toured the research laboratories of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and Smidt Heart Institute.
The tour included a visit to the Simulation Center, where the first lady and other participants spoke to Cedars-Sinai researchers who talked about their use of advanced imaging to study differences in the heart and brain between men and women. The funding for the study, they said, comes from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD).
At the Van Eyk Laboratory, the first lady and other guests learned from researchers how the study of female genes, proteins, and vascular cells leads the way to understanding women’s heart disease and the development of specific diagnostics and therapeutics. After the tour, the Biden spoke in an auditorium about the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research launched by the President Biden and the first lady last month.
“Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades and many conditions that mostly and only affect women or affect women differently have received limited attention like those debilitating migraines and undiagnosed heart attacks,” Dr. Biden says as she stood in front of an audience of about 300 people.
She added that “because of these gaps we understand far too little about these conditions and how to help the millions of women who struggle with them. And these gaps are even greater for communities that historically have been excluded from research, including women of color and women with disabilities.”
Calendar
Dec. 15, 2023
Christmas Illuminations at Mount Vernon
Kick off the holiday season with sparkling fireworks overlooking the Potomac River. Hear season's greetings by General Washington and shop a winter market featuring wares made by colonial artisans. This event also features Christmas carolers, a Revolutionary War winter encampment, and our seasonal resident Aladdin the camel. Read more
On Exhibit Now: Framed White House Christmas Cards
The National First Ladies Library and Museum in Canton, Ohio, is featuring a new temporary exhibit of framed White House Christmas cards as a part of an extensive collection that was recently donated to us by Jim Conzelman, former staff assistant to President Gerald Ford. The cards, many of which are signed, include those sent by the Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump Administrations. This temporary exhibit will be on display through the holidays.
Dec. 13 and 15, 2023
Candlelight Tours at Tudor Place
Join Tudor Place after hours for a guided tour of the historic house by candlelight. Discover stories behind the Christmas gifts in the collection before enjoying cider and treats. Read more
Dec. 13, 2023
Tudor Tots at Tudor Place
Children 18 months to four years old will play games, enjoy a group story, create holiday crafts and sing along to holiday songs. Read more
Dec. 15, 2023
Candlelight Tour of the Saxton-McKinley House with Park Service Rangers
The National First Ladies Library and Museum will offer a free, in-person candlelight tour of the Saxton-McKinley House with our Park Service Rangers from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EST. Newly forming traditions and presidential expectations all transformed how the tight-knit Saxton and McKinley family celebrated Christmas in the Saxton House over many years. The story of the Saxton and McKinley family involves difficult topics like illness and death; we recommend tour participants are at least 12 years old.
Free tours begin every 30 minutes at 5:30 pm, 6:00 pm, 7:00 pm. but may last longer than 30 minutes depending on the group size and questions asked. Tours are limited to 12 people per tour and reservations are required.
Dec. 17, 2023
Mount Vernon by Candlelight
Tour George Washington’s historic estate by candlelight and learn about holiday traditions in 18th-century Virginia. This year's event will explore the build-up to the Revolution as the 250th anniversary of the year 1773 is celebrated. Read more
Dec. 21, 2023
Third Thursdays Night Out with Jackie Kennedy - Private Curator-Led Tour
The National First Ladies Library invites visitors to “Get to Know the Real Jackie O” with this behind-the-scenes private tour led by their curator of the exhibition Beyond Camelot: The Life and Legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Light appetizers and drinks are included. Read more
Now through Dec. 31, 2023
Apply for the Washington Library’s Fellowship Program
The Washington Library is accepting applications for its 2024-2025 research fellowship program now through Dec. 31, 2023. Research fellows can spend one, three, or six months as a research fellow at the George Washington Library, located at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia. Funded research opportunities are available to people researching the early American period. Read more
On exhibit through April 27, 2024
Beyond Camelot: The Life and Legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Visitors to the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio, can explore a replica of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding gown designed by Anne Lowe and other never-before-seen artifacts donated by Monte Durham of Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta. The free exhibition runs through April 27, 2024 and is open to the public. Read more