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

President-elect Joe Biden and future First Lady Dr. Jill Biden appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Thursday night, where Dr. Biden responded to recent attacks on her use of the title “Doctor.” Dr. 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 Dr. Biden to Dr. Pepper. On Wednesday, Carlson attacked Dr. 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,” Dr. 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,” Dr. Biden responded. “One of the things I’m most proud of is my doctorate. I mean, I worked so hard for it.”

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris came to Dr. Biden’s defense, as did former First Lady Michelle Obama, among others, and Dr. Biden is grateful for their support.

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

For his part, Colbert gave Dr. 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!’” “Okay,” Dr. Biden answered, laughing, “I’ll take it that way.”

The Late Show With Stephen Colbertairs 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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