First Lady Pool Reports of January 27, 2024

The First Lady Jill Biden gave remarks at a private gathering for the Biden Victory Fund in Houston Saturday evening.

The political finance dinner was hosted by Ellen Susman at her private residence. A group of 22, many who knew the Bidens, gathered around the dining table in a tiled hallway of the high-rise condominium in Houston's River Oaks neighborhood. The table was ornate with gold chairs, detailed place settings and intricately plated appetizers. Large canvases, many with pops of bright colors and glitter, lined the walls.

U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee was also present, after greeting the first lady at the airport earlier that day.

Biden addressed the group for 11 minutes, beginning with how she and Susman came to know each other. Susman and Biden met on the campaign trail and began a long-distance friendship, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Susman traveled to Washington D.C. Biden described how it was like "when you date someone over text and then you finally meet them," and that they immediately "loved one another."

Susman then helped Biden decorate the residences of the White House with art pieces, Biden said, before launching into her remarks about President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign for re-election.

Biden addressed the question of why she was beginning her fundraising efforts in January, which she called "early."

"I want you to remember how you felt in 2016, the morning after the election, when you all said to yourself, 'Oh, my God, what just happened?' Right. I'm taking you back. So, we cannot let that happen again. And that's why I'm asking you to, you know, think about if you're committed," Biden said.

She referenced a recent dispute concerning a border bill that President Biden supports. Former President Donald Trump posted on social media earlier Saturday that he did not support the bill.
"You see what happened today with the border, and now Trump is trying to do everything he can to make Joe look bad, you know, even at the lives — sacrificing lives of so many people just for his own political gain," Biden said. "I know it's early to start, but I want you to sort of think after you leave tonight that yes, I am committed to a democracy. And yes, I'm going to fight as hard as I can and not let anything like 2016 happen again."

She asked the guests to think about their plans of support leading into the election and said that while it seemed like an "impossibility" that Biden wouldn't be re-elected, they had to be prepared.

Biden said she welcomed the guests' support, whether they were Democrats or Republicans.

"I can't believe that mainstream Republicans really want what the MAGA extremists want, either. It's hard for me to believe that they, you know, they want to tear apart the fabric of our country."

Biden quoted historian and author Heather Cox Richardson's recent column about Martin Luther King Jr. where Richardson wrote that there are no heroes left. Biden then asked the group to think of their heroes, and recited a quote from King when he said he would choose to be alive in the present over any other time.

"He said, 'I know that this country is in trouble. I know this nation is sick,'" Biden said. "So he said, 'Only through the darkness can you see the stars.'"

"I thought that that really was a reflection of what we have today. Like we are sort of wading through this darkness I think of all the things that are going on with the division in our country. But you know, I think in November, we're gonna look up. We're gonna see those stars. And we're going to know who our heroes are."

Please feel free to reach out with any questions.