Megyn Kelly criticized the first lady after she was presented as “Dr. Jill Biden” on CBS during Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. She was called a “want tobe” since she lacked a “real” degree and “insisted on this fake title.”
Biden was seated next to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a premium suite at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, where the first lady was cheering for her beloved Eagles during Sunday’s overwhelming victory over the undermanned San Francisco 49ers.
When CBS cameras captured Biden and Goodell in the box, the network’s graphics referred to her as “Dr. Jill Biden — First Lady of the United States.”
“Announcers for this Eagles-49ers game have just spotted the First Lady in a box and, of course, are referring to her as ‘Dr. Jill Biden,’” Kelly tweeted. “I wonder if she realizes that she looks like a want tobe by insisting on this phony title.”
Kelly continued, “Either see a real physician or work on your self-esteem.”
Announcers for this Eagles-49ers game have just identified the First Lady as “Dr. Jill Biden” after spotting her in a box. I wonder whether she is aware of how much of a want tobe she appears by insisting on this bogus title. Obtain a genuine physician or work on your self-esteem.
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 29, 2023
Kelly was criticized by Biden defenders in response to the post.
Former US attorney Joyce Vance remarked, “When the worst criticism you can muster against the First Lady is her use of a legitimately earned title.”
Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer who confronted Trump supporters during the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, wrote, “You urge someone to improve on their self-esteem while demeaning them. You are a real piece of work, man.”
MSNBC executive producer Kyle Griffin tweeted, “Such a pitiful, miserable person.”
Jill Biden received her doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007. Jill Biden taught full-time English at Northern Virginia Community College while her husband, President Joe Biden, served as Barack Obama’s vice president.
Jill Biden’s insistence on using the title despite not being a physician sparked a heated controversy over which Ph.D. recipients should be referred to as “doctor.”
In a widely-discussed opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal in December 2020, Joseph Epstein asked the first lady to abandon the title “which feels fraudulent, even comical.”
Epstein argued that Biden’s doctorate in education, which she earned after completing a dissertation titled “Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs,” demonstrates that “the prestige of honorary doctorates has declined even further.”
Epstein was accused of misogyny, specifically for referring to Jill Biden as “kiddo” in the opinion piece.
Epstein, who was a lecturer at Northwestern University at the time, had his name removed from the school’s website as a result of the criticism to his opinion piece.
Others, however, highlighted that the University of Delaware had historic ties to Joe Biden, who served as Delaware’s senator for three decades before Obama chose him as his 2008 running mate.
Jill Biden told Stephen Colbert in late 2020 that she is “most proud” of her PhD degree.