Jill Biden Leaned on Michelle Obama for Support After Being 'Attacked' for Using 'Dr.' Title

Jill Biden leaned on Michelle Obama after being "attacked" in 2020 for using the "Dr." title.

Biden, 75, wrote about the support she received from Obama, 62, after she was criticized on whether she should be allowed to use the "Dr." title in her memoir, View From the East Wing, which hit bookshelves on June 2.

The article, which was published in 2020 shortly before Joe Biden entered the White House, mocked Jill as a "kiddo" and featured the headline "Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D."

The piece also suggested that Jill, who holds a bachelor's, two master's degrees, and a doctorate, drop the honorific from her public identity.

"It felt strange to be attacked for using an honorific that I'd earned," Jill, who earned her doctorate from the University of Delaware at age 55, recalled, per RadarOnline.

The New Jersey native revealed that several high-profile figures came to her defense, including Michelle and civil rights leader Bernice King.

At the time, the Becoming author publicly backed Jill in a lengthy statement shared via social media.

"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," Michelle wrote in December 2020. "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."

The former first lady continued, "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 ... Is this really the example we want to set for the next generation?"

In her book, Jill also revealed that her own communications team questioned whether she should continue teaching at Northern Virginia Community College after her husband was inaugurated as president in 2021.

She recalled repeatedly being asked whether she planned to keep teaching and if she should still collect a paycheck while serving as first lady.

"Teaching was non-negotiable for me," she wrote, emphasizing her long-held belief that women should have financial independence outside of their relationships.