In what will go down as one of the last tweets of the Biden-Harris campaign, the @BidenHQ (which has since been renamed @KamalaHQ) X account posted a reference to Jill Biden’s Italian ancestry on Saturday. The video highlights the First Lady’s use of hand gestures during her speaking engagements over a soundtrack of Che La Luna by Louis Prima. The copy reads “tell me you’re the first Italian-American FLOTUS without actually telling me” followed by a pinched fingers emoji, an emoji that the Biden-Harris HQ reused when sharing the clip on X.
The video was originally shared by the official TikTok account of the Democratic Party on July 17th and seemed to garner some traction with the page’s following. Compared to the last three posts from @thedemocrats on the platform that averaged 67,000 impressions, the post of Jill Biden generated nearly 110,000 impressions along with 9,200+ likes, 100+ comments, and 300+ saves.
Now that President Joe Biden has announced that he does not intend to seek re-election in 2024, the tenure of the first Italian American first lady will end in November. Over the president’s term, Jill Biden participated in several events involving the Italian American community such as a heritage reception at the White House and the NIAF Gala, the latter of which was attended by President Biden as well. However, the Biden administration became the first to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021, a counter-holiday to Columbus Day that chooses to celebrate Native American over Italian American heritage during Italian American Heritage Month. This move was welcomed by the First Lady, prioritizing one ethnic group over another when there is plenty of room in our calendars to celebrate both.
Looking back at the legacy of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden became the first Catholic commander-in-chief who helped the first Italian American make her way into the White House in Jill Biden. Hopefully, this will one day pave the way for a paisan to be elected to this nation’s highest office.
