The first lady said at the event in Nantucket, Massachusetts, that her husband has been constantly challenged by unforeseen crises while in office, blaming global problems. Biden’s remarks come as the president’s job approval rating is at 33 percent, according to a recent New York Times and Siena College poll, which also noted that only 13 percent of Americans say the country is moving in the right direction
“[The President] he had so many hopes and plans for things he wanted to do, but every time he turned around, he had to deal with the issues of the moment,” Biden said, speaking to about two dozen attendees at a private home on the popular vacation island off coast of Massachusetts.
Biden also announced that he expects to meet next week with Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, whom he last met in May during an unannounced trip to Ukraine. She did not elaborate on the agenda for her upcoming meeting, and CNN reached out to Biden’s office for more details. On the domestic front, Biden noted gun violence, the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision and the war in Ukraine as issues the president did not foresee.
“There was just so much thrown at him,” she said. “Who would have thought what happened [with the Supreme Court overturning] Roe v. Wade? Well, maybe we saw it, but we still didn’t believe it. Gun violence in this country is absolutely horrific. We didn’t see the war in Ukraine coming.”
Biden said she, too, has felt stymied in her role as first lady and has been unexpectedly pulled in other directions from the course she originally intended.
“I was like, ‘Okay, I was second lady. I worked at community colleges. I worked on military families. I worked on cancer.”They were supposed to be my areas of focus, but then when we got [in the White House,] I had to be, with everything that was going on, the first lady of the moment.”
The first lady shared her disappointment at last month’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended the federal constitutional right to abortion. Biden added that while she supports the right to protest, she doesn’t think the anger over the decision is enough — contradicting the president’s remarks last week, where he encouraged women to “keep protesting,” adding that protesting is “critically important. “
Biden said she told members of her own family that they should consider doing more than protest.
“So many young girls, including my own grandchildren, went up to the Supreme Court and marched. I say, “Okay, good for you. But what are you going to do next? You feel good about yourself for speaking your mind, but what are you going to do next? What’s your plan?'”
The White House acknowledged that the path forward to restore abortion rights is narrow and currently uncertain.
Biden also lashed out at Congress during his speech, blaming Republicans for the administration’s stalled agenda. Joe Biden’s sweeping Build Back Better plan — which would have expanded the nation’s social safety net — received its latest blow this week when West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat, rejected including any climate or tax provisions in the bill. In a closely divided Senate, Democrats needed Manchin’s support to push legislation along party lines in a process called budget reconciliation, which requires all 50 members of the Democratic caucus to agree to advance legislation.
“I know there are so many naysayers who say we’re going to get hammered during the midterms. Okay. Republicans work hard, they stick together, for better or for worse. So we just have to work harder,” she said.
Saturday’s event marked the second DNC fundraiser the first lady has attended during a two-day trip to Massachusetts. On Thursday, she made remarks, mostly focused on political action, at a private event in Andover.
CNN’s Jasmine Wright contributed to this report.
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