When Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, died on May 31, 2024, her friend Jill Biden was there for her. The first lady attended the memorial service for Robinson, as Michelle’s spokesperson pointed out to Axios. In a June 24 tweet, the Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet confirmed Jill’s presence, noting she flew out even though the service hadn’t been on her schedule. Michelle and Jill go way back.
Michelle and Jill’s friendship started in August 2008, when Barack Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate. “It felt pretty automatic,” Michelle said in a joint interview with People in December 2016, their last as first and second lady. Jill felt the same way. “It was an instant bond,” she gushed. “Just that moment. We just knew we would be friends.” When they left the White House in early 2017, the Bidens returned to Delaware while the Obamas remained in Washington, D.C.
But the distance had no impact on their friendship. “We get together, and it’s like that friend that you see a couple years later and it’s like you never — you know?” Jill said. In May 2019, years after Kathleen Buhle’s divorce drama with Hunter Biden, Michelle promoted Jill’s book on social media. “Through our work together to honor and support military families, I saw what an inspiration Jill Biden is to those around her,” she captioned an Instagram post encouraging her followers to read “Where the Light Enters.”
