Jill Biden appears to rebuke Wall Street Journal over article urging her to drop ‘Dr’ title

Jill Biden with her husband Joe at a rally in October

Credit: Drew Angerer
/Getty Images North America 

Jill Biden has appeared to push back at a Wall Street Journal article that suggested she drop the title “Dr” before her name given it was for work in education not medicine.

Mrs Biden, the wife of US president-elect Joe Biden, tweeted on Sunday night: “Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished.”

The comment made no reference to the Wall Street Journal article but was taken as a rebuke on a comment piece about her which had triggered a backlash throughout the weekend. 

The piece by a contributor called Joseph Epstein was headlined “Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an MD”.

In it, Mr Epstein wrote: “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 argued: “A wise man once said that no one should call himself ‘Dr.’ unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.”

Doug Emhoff, the husband of incoming US vice president Kamala Harris, tweeted that the piece "would never have been written about a man.

The Wall Street Journal declined to take down the article after critics called it patronising.

Paul Gigot, the paper’s editorial page editor, defended the use of the word “kiddo”, noting Mr Biden frequently deployed the term and had used it when referring to his wife.

Mr Gigot wrote: "If you disagree with Mr Epstein, fair enough. Write a letter or shout your objections on Twitter."

"But these pages aren’t going to stop publishing provocative essays merely because they offend the new administration or the political censors in the media and academe."