"That was such a surprise" - Dr. Jill Biden reacts to the attack on her doctorate. Video / The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Dr Jill Biden has reacted to the controversial op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in which the writer attacked her for using the honorific title of "doctor".
Dr Biden is a doctor as she holds a doctorate degree, in addition to her two masters degrees.
In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal last week, titled "Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an MD", a man called Joseph Epstein suggested Dr Biden should not refer to herself as a doctor, despite her doctorate.
He referred to the future First Lady of the US as "kiddo" in the piece and said she "should think about dropping the honorific, which feels fraudulent, even comic".
Dr Biden and her husband, President-Elect Joe Biden, spoke to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show yesterday, and Dr Biden admitted the piece took her by surprise.
"That was such a surprise," she told the talk show host.
"And it was really the tone of it ... He called me kiddo," Dr Biden added.
"One of the things I'm most proud of is my doctorate, I worked so hard for it."
Despite the controversy, Dr Biden was able to look on the bright side, and focus on all the people who came out in her defence.
"Look at the people who came out in support of me. I am so grateful and I was just overwhelmed by how gracious people were to me," she said.
The comment surprised Dr Biden but she has been able to look on the bright side. Photo / YouTube
Her husband, sitting next to her, revealed he got to hand her the doctorate degree during the ceremony, and added that he was the one who suggested she pursued the path of the PhD.
"She also has two masters degrees and kept going to school all the time while teaching at night," the president-elect said.
Biden added that the doctorate meant a $2000 pay rise.
Dr Biden and her husband, President-elect Joe Biden, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Photo / YouTube
In a separate interview, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris also commented on the controversy.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Harris said she was "deeply disappointed that in 2020, that kind of approach would be given any legitimacy".
"She worked hard. She raised her kids. She went to night school. She got degrees. She earned everything she has. That's the American way; that's the American spirit. So, when there's anyone who tries to diminish the significance of people who work hard, I think it's just not the American way, frankly," Harris added.
