Biden Admits He Contemplated Suicide and ‘Picked Up a Bottle of Whiskey’ After His Wife’s Death in 1972…Even Though He’s Complete
President Joe Biden opened up about the dark times he faced after his first wife and daughter died in a car crash, describing to radio host Howard Stern on Friday how he contemplated suicide.
Biden sat for a surprise interview during a visit to New York.
In one of the most revealing passages, he spoke of his despair at the death of Neilia and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi in December 1972.
‘I do not drink. That is not a virtue. “I just never drank,” he said.
“And I used to sit there and think to myself, I think I’ll pull out a bottle of whiskey. We always had liquor in the house… and I would just drink and get drunk, but I could never bring myself to do that.
In this file photo, Senator-elect Joseph Biden and his wife Nelia cut his 30th birthday cake at a party in Wilmington, November 20, 1972, with their two sons Hunter and Beau
Biden spoke with Sirius XM host Howard Stern
“And I was actually thinking about, you know, you don’t have to be crazy to commit suicide. When you’ve been to the top of a mountain, you think it will never be there again.
“And for a moment I thought, maybe I should just go to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and jump. but I had two children.’
The live radio interview surprised listeners. Biden has conducted few interviews since taking office and the appearance was not on his public agenda.
He spent Thursday evening in New York City after a fundraiser at actor Michael Douglas’ home in Westchester County.
The president spent Thursday evening in New York City after attending a fundraiser hosted by actor Michael Douglas in Westchester County.
Before returning to the White House, he stopped by a Manhattan studio to talk with Sirius XM radio host Stern.
He made some news during the interview, with Biden saying he would be “happy” to meet Trump on the debate stage.
Stern asked a series of heartbreaking questions about the car crash that involved Biden’s first wife Neilia and his one-year-old daughter Naomi.
But things quickly changed during Biden’s romantic availability — and women took notice.
President Joe Biden gave an hour-long interview with Howard Stern on Sirius
Biden with Nelia shortly after he was elected senator in 1972. She died weeks later
In the new interview, Biden said, “And for a second, I thought maybe I would just go to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and jump.” but I had two children
“I was put on the list of the 10 most eligible bachelors,” he told Stern, who noted that he was a U.S. senator at the time.
‘And many lovely women, just women, sent very salacious photos and I simply gave them to the Secret Service. And I thought someone would think I was…’ he said, without clarifying why the presidential security agency would be involved.
He decided to put the brakes on his romantic pursuits.
“And I just gave up,” Biden said. Then: ‘I got a call from my brother. So I have a girl here in Delaware – Jill is nine years younger than me. He said you will love her. She doesn’t like politics,” he continued, describing the events that led to his second marriage.
Stern asked a series of biographical softball questions in an interview that culminated with the host sharing his own annoyance at how people could vote for someone who told an election official in Georgia to find “11,780” votes.
Biden talked about his time as a lifeguard in a predominantly black neighborhood in Delaware.
Biden said he had rescued six people from need, without bragging about his venture.
“Have you ever saved someone’s life when you were a lifeguard?” he asked.
Biden said he would ‘love’ to debate Donald Trump
“Half a dozen times,” Biden replied.
Stern was ready to see more on the big screen.
‘It’s a big problem. We should show that in the movie of a lifetime,” Stern advised.
Biden also regaled Stern with stories about his high school football career.
“You were like the first string guy. You were the guy who caught the ball,” Stern told him.
‘Runner up scores! Who cares,” Biden continued. “Wow,” STern said.
Stern tried to extract comments from Biden about the Supreme Court, whose conservative rulings have shaped electoral politics, even as he said the Violence Against Women Act, which he helped draft, was under threat.
“I have to be careful what I say about the court,” Biden said, calling the law one of his “proudest achievements.”
It was Stern who talked about the time Senate Republicans led by Biden’s friend Sen. Mitch McConnell killed Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
“These maniacs in the sen said no. And now we have a Supreme Court that is crazy,” Stern said.
‘It is a very conservative court. Perhaps the most conservative court in modern history,” Biden said.
Biden said women would send him “lascivious” photos during the time he was single after the death of his first wife, Nelia. He married Jill Tracy Jacobs (now first lady Jill Biden) in 1977.
Stern, who has interviewed Trump in the past, was not exposed to the Stormy Daniels trial underway in his home state of New York. But he pushed back on the Jan. 6 charges against Trump.
‘What are we debating about? A man picked up the phone and wanted to say: fake the elections. Give me 11,000 votes. I don’t know how any American loves this country. That’s the end of the debate. You are not allowed to stand as a candidate if you want to arrange elections.’
Biden went after Trump’s inaction in the White House during the Capitol riot. ‘It was deserted. It was almost criminal,” he said.
In his comments on the Trump debate, Biden went further than previous hedging.
‘I’m somewhere, I don’t know when. I’m happy to debate him,” he told Stern.
By March, Biden had hedged, saying in March, “It depends on his behavior.”
“Alright, let’s set it up!” Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, posted shortly after the comment.