Jill Biden has responded to critics who have bashed the future First Last of the US for choosing to use the title 'Dr' in her name.
Back on December 11, the Wall Street Journal published an Op-Ed piece, in which writer Joseph Epstein argued that, despite Dr. Biden having a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware, she should "drop the doc" as the title "feels fraudulent".
Epstein wrote:
"Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the 'Dr.' before your name?
"Dr. Jill Biden sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title 'Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students' Needs'.
"A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc."
In addition, Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson has also blasted the 69-year-old doctor, first telling viewers that Biden suffers from "status anxiety", before going on to say that Biden is "a doctor of education, which means basically nothing."
He then compared Dr Biden's title to that of the soft drink "Dr Pepper" and convicted sex offender "Dr Bill Cosby".
However, he didn't stop there, as in a further tirade on Wednesday, Carlson clarified that Biden is not a "healer", and announced that he had reviewed a thesis written by Dr Biden for a doctoral degree in education.
To earn her Ed.D., Dr Biden wrote a dissertation titled: 'Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students' Needs.'
The host then went on to claim that the dissertation features several typos and inconsistencies, adding that sections of it "seem to be written in a foreign language in English words" and are "pure nonsense".
Carlson added: "The whole thing is just incredibly embarrassing and not simply to poor, illiterate Jill Biden, but to the college that considered this crap scholarship, embarrassing in fact to our entire system of higher education, to the nation itself."
Now, in an interview with The Late Show's Stephen Colbert alongside her husband, Dr Biden has responded to the criticism, admitting that she was left "surprised" by the initial article.
During the interview, Colbert asked: "You once said in your memoir the role I have always felt most at home in is Dr Biden. Some people have recently taken it upon themselves to question that title. Do you have any reaction?"
Watch Biden address the controversy in the video below:
Dr Biden proudly responded: "One of the things I'm most proud of is my doctorate. I mean I worked so hard for it."
The future FLOTUS then said that she was "surprised" by the tone of the article, adding: "And it was really the tone of it that I think - you know he called me 'kiddo'."
Joe Biden then interjected: "I got to hand [Jill] her doctorate on the stage University of Delaware, she had two masters degrees, she kept going to school all the time while teaching at night, and then what happened was I said Jill why don't you get a doctorate and make us some real money.
"She gets the doctorate and gets a $2,000 raise."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]
Two other people to speak out in defense of Dr Biden are the former First Lady of the US Michelle Obama and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Writing on Instagram, Obama said: "For eight years, I saw Dr. Jill Biden do what a lot of professional women do - successfully manage more than one responsibility at a time, from her teaching duties to her official obligations in the White House to her roles as a mother, wife, and friend.
"And right now, we’re all seeing what also happens to so many professional women, whether their titles are Dr., Ms., Mrs., or even First Lady: All too often, our accomplishments are met with skepticism, even derision.
"We’re doubted by those who choose the weakness of ridicule over the strength of respect. And yet somehow, their words can stick—after decades of work, we’re forced to prove ourselves all over again."
Obama added: "Is this really the example we want to set for the next generation?
"Dr. Biden gives us a better example. And this is why I feel so strongly that we could not ask for a better First Lady."
And speaking in an interview with Good Morning America on Wednesday, Kamala Harris addressed the WSJ article, saying: "I was deeply disappointed that in 2020, that kind of approach would be given any legitimacy."
Harris then told host Robin Roberts that it was unpatriotic to disrespect Dr Biden's accomplishments, saying: "She worked hard. She raised her kids. She went to night school. She got degrees. She earned everything she has.
"That’s the American way; that’s the American spirit. So, when there’s anyone who tries to diminish the significance of people who work hard, I think it’s just not the American way, frankly."
