First Lady Jill Biden surprised members of the National Guard at the US Capitol on Friday and handed out cookies, a gesture of kindness “for keeping me and my family safe” during President Biden’s inauguration earlier this week.
“I just want to thank President Biden and the entire Biden family,” she told a group of Guard members in her first public appearance since taking up her new post.
“The White House made you some chocolate chip cookies,” she said, before teasing that she couldn’t say she had made them herself.
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Saying, “The Biden are a National Guard family,” First Lady Jill Biden greets members of the National Guard with chocolate chip cookies on Friday, January 22, 2021, at the United States Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Almost 25,000 soldiers landed in Washington, DC, in the days leading up to the inauguration, while authorities remained on high alert for roaring actors seeking to incite violence. The ultra-defensive stance came after protesters stormed the Capitol building earlier this month in protest for Biden’s presidential victory.
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Jill Biden’s visit to the National Guard was particularly sentimental for her, as she recalled her late stepson Beau Biden, a former member of the Delaware Army National Guard who spent an outstanding year in Iraq. He later died in 2015, aged 46, after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer.
“So, I’m a mother of the National Guard,” she told the crowd, adding that the baskets were a “small thank you” for leaving their home states and coming to the country’s capital. President Biden thanked the head of the National Guard Cabinet in a phone call on Friday.
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“I really appreciate everything you do,” added the first lady. “The National Guard will always have a special place in the heart of all Bidens.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.