Biden comes up short on guessing game about his teacher wife

President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and grandson Beau walk across the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

WASHINGTON – The White House's Truman balcony. Staying in on Friday nights. Being first to say “I love you.”

President Joe Biden is married to a longtime teacher but he came up short on a five-question pop quiz about her. He guessed just three correct answers about first lady Jill Biden during a joint interview with talk-show host Drew Barrymore that aired Monday.

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“The Final Five” is a game that Barrymore plays with her guests and said is her favorite. In a special White House edition of the game, the first lady knew the questions “so the question is, is Mr. President going to get the answers correct?" Barrymore said on the broadcast.

Biden was correct in guessing that the Truman balcony, which is part of the private residence, is his wife's favorite place in the White House, that she'd now prefer to stay in on a free Friday night and that he was the first one in their relationship to say “I love you.”

“Oh, that's easy. Me. I said it first,” Biden said. “I said it first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.” She agreed to marry him after his fifth ask.

But he flunked on questions about what the longtime community college professor snacks on from the White House kitchen when she's starving and wants to be naughty, and the habit of his that she'd like to change.

“Probably something with avocado in it,” the president answered. French fries was the correct answer.

He said he thought she'd want him to “not talk to everybody I see” but the first lady said her husband of 45 years “leaves his reading light on at night” and she'd like him to start a new habit by turning it off.

The Bidens taped the interview on Dec. 9, according to the White House. Asked if the president is a good “gift giver," the first lady confirmed that he is.

“One thing that Joe gives me every year is a poem,” she said. “He has a book that he bought for me and every year he writes a poem.”

For a birthday, he gave her a rose garden. “A full rose garden. I loved that gift,” she said.

Biden said he feels good about her Christmas present this year, but obviously couldn't reveal what it is.

“He pretty much gets it right,” Jill Biden said.


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