Martinis and fries?
Not your usual couple, but this is what First Lady Jill Biden first wants after COVID-19, she revealed when she sat down with Kelly Clarkson at the House Blanche in her first solo TV interview since President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
If this sounds like an unusual combination of host and guest, consider connection: Clarkson’s connection with her daytime audience of what she calls “ordinary people” (her 17-month-old show was an audience hit), and Biden’s desire to connect with that audience to convey messages hope and unity.
Biden even opened up about his first marriage and divorce, trying to give Clarkson hope over his ongoing divorce issues.
In the end, Biden, 69, and Clarkson, 38, chatty and unfiltered, seemed to get along like a house on fire judging by clips for the show released on Wednesday. Clarkson has made it clear that she approves of Biden’s post-pandemic desire.
When asked what fun thing she plans to do first once the pandemic has abated, Biden laughed. “A funny thing? Maybe go get a martini and fries.”
“Yeah!” Clarkson exclaimed. “I knew I loved you! I love this idea!”
The one-on-one “conversation” (“I don’t like the word ‘interview’,” Clarkson said) took place in the East Room earlier this week in socially remote conditions: the two were maskless. but sitting far from each other.
The episode of Clarkson’s nationally broadcast talk show, “White House Edition with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden,” airs Thursday.
Biden’s appearance on the show had a serious purpose: she reintroduced herself (she was second lady for eight years under the Obama administration) into a country divided more than ever by politics, race, and a national emergency. She is trying to reach as many people as possible quickly to argue for the Biden administration.
She uses all the tools at her disposal, from her FLOTUS megaphone to her dogs, Champ and Major, to connect.
In fact, Clarkson was able to meet these two. Was there a place in the White House they weren’t allowed, she asked. Not on the furniture, Biden said, although she added that she grabbed the youngest dog, Major, once on the couch, although he jumped quickly.
Like the Bidens, Texas-born Clarkson was also voted: she was voted first American Idol.
Biden told Clarkson about his FLOTUS educational program (his paid job teaches English literature at a community college in Northern Virginia), military families, and cancer research.
(On Wednesday, she visited Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., On her first public trip outside Washington. She said it was time for the country to seriously end inequality in the world. long-standing health for people of color.)
On the Clarkson show, she answered questions from a live virtual audience of former guests of the show, commented on Clarkson’s song choice for her opening segment “Kellyoke” (her version of karaoke) and offered her advice on what women should do first each day. (exercise).
She spoke of coping with grief after her son Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015, balancing work and motherhood, and the presidential couple’s nightly date.
She even advised Clarkson on the possible benefits of a divorce. Biden married in college and divorced before marrying widowed US Senator Joe Biden in 1977.
Clarkson filed for divorce from husband / manager Brandon Blackstock last summer and is still breaking down their personal and professional relationships. She has primary custody of their two young children and has been open about the emotional and psychological pain of divorce.
Biden spoke to Clarkson like she was his mother, citing advice from his own mother on how things will always be better tomorrow.
“If you can take it one day at a time, things will get better,” Biden said. “I look back now, and I think if I hadn’t been divorced I would never have met Joe and I wouldn’t have the beautiful family I have now. So I really think things are going for the best.
“Kelly, over time you heal and you will be surprised and I can’t wait for that day to come for you,” she said.
