Joe Biden praises Jill Biden after confronting hecklers: ‘You don’t screw around with a Philly girl’
“If any NFL teams are scouting for a right guard, Jill Biden is available."
Jill Biden once again proved it’s not wise to challenge a Philly girl.
On Tuesday night, as former Vice President Joe Biden celebrated an impressive delegate haul on Super Tuesday, his wife was once again forced to confront a heckler during one of her husband’s speeches.
During the speech in Los Angeles, after Biden won nine states — including Texas — an animal rights protester managed to make it onto the stage flashing an anti-dairy sign. Jill Biden immediately moved to block her husband as a security guard removed the protester, who shouted, “Let dairy die!”
A second heckler then stormed the stage, but was quickly pushed away by Jill Biden and tackled by senior campaign adviser Symone Sanders, who sprinted onto the stage to offer the former second lady an assist.
“If any NFL teams are scouting for a right guard, Jill Biden is available,” joked activist and author Amy Siskind. “Did not have ‘Jill Biden trucks a vegan’ on my Super Tuesday Bingo card,” wrote Buzzfeed’s Josh Billinson.
The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Following the event, Jill Biden simply wrote on Twitter, “What a night.” Sanders wryly noted, “I broke a nail.”
The Bidens do not receive Secret Service protection. As a former vice president, Biden was entitled to six months of protection after he left office, according to USA Today. The Department of Homeland Security has the power to extend that protection, but has not done so with Biden.
“I’m probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service,” Biden joked at a California fundraiser in Bel Air Wednesday. “Whoa, you don’t screw around with a Philly girl, I’ll tell you what.”
On MSNBC Tuesday night, Robert Gibbs — who served for three years as former President Barack Obama’s press secretary — called on the department to immediately offer Secret Service to protection to both Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Gibbs called the incident involving the protestors “nothing short of genuinely scary.”
“I thought I heard on the news on the way over that that the committee in charge of Secret Service decided they have to start providing Secret Service for us,” Biden joked on Wednesday. “I think that’s because they’re afraid Jill’s going to hurt someone.”
It’s the second time in the span of the month Jill Biden has been forced to act as her husband’s security guard. Last month, she shoved a shouting heckler off the stage during a campaign event in Manchester, N.H. She joked about the incident following the speech, telling reporters, “I’m a good Philly girl.”
The former second lady, who grew up in Willow Grove, has been a constant on the campaign trail, giving speeches and holding separate campaign events. Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama staffer and co-host of the popular Pod Save America podcast, succinctly summed up why Jill Biden’s importance to her husband’s campaign.