Jill Biden takes veiled jibe at op-ed over 'Dr.' title, netizens call her 'role model'

US First Lady-elect Dr Jill Biden on December 14 appeared to have reacted to the opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal on Friday in which the writer, Joseph Epstein talked about her dropping the ‘Dr.’ title in her name since she is not a ‘medical doctor’. While Epstein made ‘sexist’ remarks and argued that Biden should stop using ‘Dr.’ in her title that she earned after her doctorate from the University of Delaware in 2007, the US First Lady-elect in the latest TWitter post appeared to have reacted to it by talking about ‘building a world where’ daughters are lifted up for their achievements instead of bringing them down.

In the controversial op-ed that triggered widespread criticism and Biden's supporters even started an online campaign in support of the US First Lady-elect under hashtag #MyTitleIsDr, the writer r referred to 69-year-old as “kiddo” and called her doctoral thesis as “unpromising”.

Read - Merriam-Webster Takes Jibe At Op-ed Asking Jill Biden To Drop 'Dr.', Netizens Impressed

Read - Jill Biden, Joe's Chief Protector, Stepping Up As First Lady

Paper defends op-ed

However, as per reports, Paul Gigot, who is responsible for the paper’s opinion section, backed the decision to run the op-ed written by Joseph Epstein. While Gigot wrote in a follow-up op-ed on Saturday that Biden supporters reacted in a “very Trumpian” manner, Epstein had suggested US First Lady-elect drop ‘Dr.’ in her title because she is not in the field of medicine. Gigot even accused the Biden media team of elevating ‘Epstein’s work’ as ‘political strategy’.

"The complaints (about the article) began as a trickle but became a torrent after the Biden media team elevated Mr Epstein's work in what was clearly a political strategy," wrote Gigot. “Why go to such lengths to highlight a single op-ed on a relatively minor issue? My guess is that the Biden team concluded it was a chance to use the big gun of identity politics to send a message to critics as it prepares to take power. There's nothing like playing the race or gender card to stifle criticism," he added.

Read - Jill Biden's Policy Director Mala Adiga Has Roots In Karnataka's Udupi

Read - Joe Biden Appoints Indian-American Mala Adiga As Jill Biden's Policy Director