Jill Biden responds to attacks on her doctorate: 'That was such a surprise'

President-elect Joe Biden and future first lady Jill Biden appeared Thursday on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where Jill Biden responded to recent attacks on her use of the title “Doctor.” Jill Biden has a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and earned her doctorate from the University of Delaware. The attacks began with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, then continued on Monday when Fox News host Tucker Carlson compared her to Dr Pepper. On Wednesday, Carlson attacked Jill Biden’s dissertation and called her “illiterate.”

“Some people have recently taken it upon themselves to question that title of yours,” Colbert said. “Do you have any reaction to those people?” “Yeah,” Jill Biden answered, “that was such a surprise.” “It caught me by surprise as well. I did not see that one coming,” Colbert replied. “Nor did I. And, you know, it was really the tone of it that I think that — you know, he called me ‘kiddo,’” she responded. “One of the things I’m most proud of is my doctorate. I mean, I worked so hard for it.” (Yahoo follows AP Style on titles, referring to medical doctors with “Dr.” before their name on first reference and last name only on subsequent references.)

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris came to Jill Biden’s defense, as did Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, among others, and Jill Biden is grateful for their support.

“But look at all the people who came out in support of me,” she said. “I mean, I am so grateful and I was — you know, I was just overwhelmed by how gracious people were toward me.”

For his part, Colbert gave Jill Biden a different perspective on these vicious and mean-spirited attacks.

“Do you think it might be a little bit of a compliment that people are trying to think of something to criticize you about?” Colbert asked. “And they were like, ‘Oh, what do we got? I got it!’” “OK,” she answered, laughing, “I’ll take it that way.”

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.

Watch Tucker Carlson rip Dr. Jill Biden’s dissertation and call her illiterate:

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