Two pieces of Jill Biden news today, in what is turning out to be an important week for the First Lady’s office. First off, President Biden formally declined the invitation to King Charles’s coronation. Biden did so in a personal call to King Charles. The White House also announced that First Lady Dr. Jill Biden would attend the Chubbly in the president’s place.

First lady Jill Biden will represent the U.S. at the coronation of King Charles III next month, President Joe Biden told the royal during a Tuesday call, the White House said.

Biden said he looked forward to meeting with the king in the U.K. “at a future date,” the White House said, and that his wife “looks forward to attending on behalf of the United States.”

The White House said the pair also discussed the “strength of the relationship between our countries and the friendship between our peoples.”

The president and the first lady jointly attended last year’s funeral in London for Elizabeth II. No sitting U.S. president has ever attended a British royal coronation.

[From The AP]

I feel like Dr. Biden is too important to attend this stupid Struggle Chubbly. Like, if the White House is making a point of President Biden turning down the invite, than surely the WH should just send Pete Buttigieg or something. Definitely not FLOTUS or VPOTUS. Especially not after the palace gave free rein to the unhinged British media to attack President Biden for the past four days.

Meanwhile, Dr. Biden has never gotten such bad press as she did this week, when she spoke about how much she enjoyed the NCAA women’s basketball final and expressed her desire to invite the winning team (the LSU Tigers) AND the losing team (Iowa Hawkeyes). It was a bad look, it was an insensitive look, and it looked like Dr. Biden wanted to make a point of giving white women a participation trophy. Dr. Biden’s office began walking back her comments on Tuesday, making a point of saying that only the LSU Tigers are invited to the White House:

First lady Jill Biden appeared to walk back suggestions that the White House might invite both LSU and Iowa’s women’s basketball teams after Tigers star Angel Reese called it “A JOKE” on Monday. Speaking on Monday, Biden congratulated both teams on their performance in Sunday’s national championship game, as well as specifically highlighting Iowa’s sportsmanship.

“Last night, I attended the NCAA women’s basketball championship,” said Biden, while speaking at an event at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. “So I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come but, you know, I’m going to tell Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”

It is traditional for the national champions to be invited to the White House, but not for the runners-up. Reese tweeted a link to the story which included Biden’s comments, calling it “A JOKE” along with three rolling-on-floor-laughing emojis.

In a comment on an Instagram post from ‘The Shade Room’ which included Reese’s tweet, the recently crowned NCAA champion said: “WE NOT COMING. period.”

Press secretary to the first lady Vanessa Valdivia sought to clarify Biden’s comments on Tuesday, saying in a tweet that they “were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.”

Before Valdivia’s clarification, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith had echoed Reese’s sentiment, replying to her tweet saying: “I mean absolutely zero disrespect to the First Lady, but you are 1000% correct.

[From CNN]

I think we can do two things at once: call out Jill Biden for the insensitivity of suggesting that it wouldn’t be enough to recognize the mostly-Black team (the Tigers), that white women (the Hawkeyes) must be included too; and also recognize that Jill Biden’s comments were in the moment, and likely came from a place of wanting to praise all of the young women for being amazing. She’s a teacher and professor and she’s seen the benefits of Title IX for decades. But yeah, it was insensitive and I think most people would appreciate it if Dr. Biden went on the record about what she’s learned from this incident.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

United States President Joe Biden pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey”Chocolate” and “Chip” during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, DC Featuring: President Joe Biden, Chip Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 21 Nov 2022 Credit: Chris Kleponis/CNP/startraksphot/Cover Images

United States President Joe Biden pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey”Chocolate” and “Chip” during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, DC Featuring: President Joe Biden Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 21 Nov 2022 Credit: Chris Kleponis/CNP/startraksphot/Cover Images

United States President President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden host a Lunar New Year Reception with Elaine Tso, CEO of Asian Services in Action (ASIA) at the White House in Washington, DC on January 26, 2023. Featuring: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 26 Jan 2023 Credit: Chris Kleponis/CNP/startraksphot/Cover Images

President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and Nasa Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli during a reception celebrating Nowruz at the White House in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2023. Featuring: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Where: Washington, District Of Columbia, United States When: 20 Mar 2023 Credit: Chris Kleponis/Pool/CNP/startraksphoto.com

President Joe Biden presents the Arts and Humanities Award during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the federal government. It is awarded by the president of the United States to individuals or groups who are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States. Featuring: President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 21 Mar 2023 Credit: CNP/startraksphoto.com