Jill Biden Said She Will Continue Teaching If Her Husband Becomes President

Jill Biden has no plans to quit her day job if her husband should win the presidential election in November.

In an interview on Sunday with CBS News, the wife of presumptive Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden said that she plans to continue teaching if her husband defeats Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Jill Biden had already continued her profession while serving as Second Lady, teaching English courses at Northern Virginia Community College while her husband was vice president to Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

Should Joe Biden win in November, Jill would be a working First Lady starting early next year.

“If we get to the White House, I’m going to continue to teach,” she told Rita Braver. “I want people to value teachers and know their contributions and to lift up the profession.”

It is common for First Ladies to work within the White House, leading outreach initiatives and organizing events. Some have been more politically active than others, including Hillary Clinton who helped to lead a push for health care reform. Working outside the administration would be more rare.

A working First Lady could bring more than just headlines to the ticket. Jill Biden has been vocal about the importance of education, and has helped to cement some critical support for the Democratic candidate among educators and unions. Earlier this year, the influential National Education Association published a feature on Jill Biden that praised her support of mental health services and for LGBT+ students and families.

She has also been a spokesperson for Joe Biden’s education plan and the benefits it would have for teachers, being cited by the union.

“Joe’s plan invests in educators–by paying them competitive salaries, increasing career opportunities, and helping them pay off their student loan debt. He is going to protect and expand their rights to organize and bargain collectively,” she told the NEA, which has endorsed Joe Biden.

But Jill Biden has resisted stepping further into the campaign, saying during the CBS News interview that she does not want to respond to Trump’s insults of “Sleepy Joe.” She has advocated running a more high-minded campaign, not getting into the back-and-forth with the Republican candidate who has a penchant for hurling personal insults at his perceived political opponents.

“I am not gonna call Donald Trump names,” she replied. “Because then I’m doing the exact same negative thing that he does to other people, and I won’t stoop to that.”