Photos of Jill Biden stepping out in unconventional stockings for a first lady have earned both praise and criticism from internet commentators.
The images: Biden debuted the sheer black hosiery while deplaning Air Force One on Thursday en route to the White House from a visit to California.
- Biden had dressed up as a flight attendant and handed out Dove ice cream bars to reporters and staff on the flight as an April Fool’s prank, according to a pool report.
The reaction: As photos of the moment circulated widely online, some conservatives suggested Biden’s stockings were inappropriate.
- Newsmax host Greg Kelly quipped that the first lady wasn’t living up to her title of “doctor.”
Comedian Terrence K. Williams deemed Biden’s outfit “trashy” and, like others on the right, compared Biden unfavorably to her predecessor, former first lady Melania Trump.
Biden’s fans rushed to her defense, celebrating her leggy look along with her doctorate in education.
White House correspondent April Ryan said of Biden’s “Leather & Lace” ensemble, “I’m not mad at her sophisticated sexiness.”
Closing the partisan-vitriol loop, a number of liberals trashed Trump’s sartorial choices as first lady or resurfaced racy photos she posed for as a young model.
On April 2, CNN ran an op-ed online praising Biden as a feminist pioneer who has transcended the “retrograde” first lady role by continuing to work as a community college teacher.
- “Biden’s decision gives us a chance to begin radically rethinking what the position looks like,” wrote researcher Nicole Hemmer. ” And more than that: it models just how vital it is that women have autonomy over their lives and careers, something that will be vitally necessary as we work to rebuild in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
