‘Say it to my face, buddy’: Jill Biden claps back at former Biden spox who questioned timing of book release

Former first lady Jill Biden continues to defend herself as Democrats call her out for the ill-timed release of her memoir a few short months before critical midterm elections.

During one recent stop on her book tour, the wife of former President Joe Biden fired back at one critic, a former spokesperson for the Biden White House, challenging Andrew Bates to “say it to my face.”

Bates recently told The New York Post, “I don’t see why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now.”

Mrs. Biden was asked about the quote during her appearance at the Sixth & I Synagogue event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, where she was sporting a white wrist corsage that she said was a gift from her husband for her 75th birthday.

(Video: YouTube)

“I want to say to Andrew: Call me up, and say it to my face, buddy,” she responded after elaborating how her book, “View From the East Wing,” covered a “lot of joy” during her four years as first lady.

Her comment drew applause from the audience, and journalist Paola Ramos, who was moderating the event, quickly snarked, “To be fair, he did go to the New York Post.”

Biden laughed but then added, “If somebody has something to say, say it to my face!”

“You are exposing yourself,” Ramos noted.

“That’s fair,” the former first lady acknowledged before adding, “But his comment wasn’t fair.”

Biden had defended her memoir before calling out Bates, noting that the memoir recounted the 2024 campaign and disastrous debate in just one chapter.

“I just want to say that my book has one chapter on the political wounds. One, one,” she began when asked about the criticism.

“The rest of the book contains my reflections of the four years at the White House. There’s a lot of challenges, yes, but let me tell you, there’s a lot of joy in there,” she said.

“It’s about my teaching, and about the state dinners, Camp David, having my family at the White House, traveling the country, all my foreign travel,” she said. “So that is one small part.”

But Biden’s attack on Bates, a loyal defender of the former president and his family, sparked even more criticism.

“No one was more loyal to the Biden family and fought harder for them than @AndrewBatesNC. Sh*tty to see that that loyalty was a one-way street,” former Obama aide Tommy Vietor posted.

“The former First Lady would still be known as the former Second Lady without Andrew Bates,” a former staffer in the Biden White House told Axios reporter Alex Thompson, who co-authored “Original Sin” with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Reactions from another former Biden aide. https://t.co/xgFYHte5sX

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 4, 2026

Former Biden people are furious at the First Lady’s comments given how hard Bates worked for the Bidens.

Former Biden spokesperson @Rodericka goes on the record: “Why are we rehashing years-old scores and clinging to relevancy to sell books about palace intrigue within a wing… https://t.co/g8jFFUr04n

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 4, 2026

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