Dr. Jill Biden is speaking out about that Wall Street Journal article.
Less than a week after the newspaper published an op-ed arguing she should drop the “Dr.” from her name, the incoming first lady reacted to the piece during the Dec. 17th episode of The Late Show.
When asked about the article, Dr. Biden told Stephen Colbert it took her by surprise. “It was really the tone of it,” she explained. “You know, he called me kiddo.”
In the opinion piece, author Joseph Epstein argued Dr. Biden should stop using her “Dr.” title because she’s not a medical doctor.
“Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the ‘Dr.’ before your name?” he wrote. “‘Dr. Jill Biden'” sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.”
Dr. Biden earned her doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007. For her dissertation, she focused on increasing student retention in community colleges. In his op-ed, Epstein called her dissertation’s title, “Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs,” “unpromising.”
“A wise man once said that no one should call himself ‘Dr.’ unless he has delivered a child,” he continued. “Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.”