Former Fox News host and conservative pundit Megyn Kelly is facing backlash online after she criticized first lady Jill Biden, who holds a doctorate in education, for the use of her “Dr.” title.
Kelly called Biden’s doctorate a “fake title” after an announcer at the NFC Championship game in Philadelphia on Sunday introduced the first lady, who was in attendance in a box to cheer on her hometown Philadelphia Eagles as they earned a Super Bowl trip against the San Francisco 49ers.
“Announcers for this Eagles-49ers game just spotted the First Lady in a box and of course call her ‘Dr. Jill Biden.’ Wonder if she realizes what a wannabe she looks like insisting on this fake title. Get a real MD or just work on your self-esteem,” Kelly wrote on Twitter, prompting a surge of commenters to knock her for the jab.
The first lady earned her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware and is a 30-year classroom teacher. She’s stuck with her teaching post at Northern Virginia Community College throughout her husband’s vice presidency and presidency — which makes her the only first lady to hold a full-time job outside of the White House.
Conservatives have long knocked Biden over her use of the title. A 2020 Wall Street Journal op-ed notably drew backlash after essayist Joseph Epstein suggested Biden drop the “Dr.” from her name.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, in 2020, said Biden is a doctor “in the same sense Dr Pepper is.” Conservative pundit Ann Coulter criticized the GRE and GPA requirements at the school where Biden earned her degree.
The right-wing figures have been criticized for their “misogynistic” focus on Biden’s title.
The first lady has said her doctorate is “one of the things I’m most proud of.”