Oprah packed the Kennedy Center with some of Hollywood’s biggest names for her daytime talk show on Monday, which she has temporarily moved to Washington D.C., for Barack Obama’s Inauguration. But it was a husband and wife from Delaware who caused the biggest splash – the Bidens.
Oprah’s guests on Monday included Hollywood A-Listers such as Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am, Seal and Bono, but the audience was most excited to see the new second in command, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and wife Jill.
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And during his interview, Vice President-elect Biden couldn’t contain his excitement for the monumental change about to sweep the country on Tuesday.
“We go this right, him on top and me in second,” Biden said of Obama. “It’s amazing how he has inspired the country.”
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Oprah asked Jill, who is a teacher, if she was going to have to give up anything as she started this chapter in her life.
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“I’m still going to teach, I have to be true to myself,” she told Oprah. “I love my students, I always say, ‘They are my heroes.’”
As for the Bidens’ secret to successful marriage, the Vice President-elect credits their communication and values.
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“We’re really are each other’s best buddies,” Joe said of Jill, who he affectionately referred to as “Jilly.” “Communication… we really respect each other. We come from really similar backgrounds, we have kind of the same value sets.”
Oprah asked the Vice President-elect if it was hard to fill the number two spot after running for President himself.
Biden said his mother’s words wisdom, “Everyone fails but no one has the right to give up,” guided him in his decision process of accepting the position.
In a surprise moment during the interview, Jill revealed that Barack Obama had given her husband the choice between the position of Secretary of State or Vice President. She encouraged him to pick the office of the Vice President in order to keep her family as close together as possible.
However, the office of the Vice President-elect was quick to clear up any confusion by Jill’s statement.
“Like anyone who followed the presidential campaign this summer, Dr. Jill Biden knew there was a chance that President-elect Obama might ask her husband to serve in some capacity and that, given his background, the positions of Vice President and Secretary of State were possibilities. Dr. Biden’s point to Oprah today was that being Vice President would be a better fit for their family because they would get to see him more and get to participate in serving more,” a spokesperson for the Vice President-elect said in a statement released to Access Hollywood.
“To be clear, President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate. And the Vice President-elect was thrilled to accept the offer,” the statement continued.
And one perk of being Vice President – “We got public housing now,” Joe joked.
Now that the Bidens have appeared on Oprah, many wonder if the Obamas are next? Not according to Oprah’s pal Gayle King.
“I would think that the answer to that would be probably not,” Gayle told Access’ Shaun Robinson on Sunday. “She would never even ask… he is the President of the United States. I know the offer to [Michelle Obama] has not been extended and to my knowledge they haven’t been calling saying, ‘Put me on the show.’ There was a rumor that either Barack or Michelle is coming on the show. No, that’s absolutely not true.”
“We are setting the record straight,” Shaun said to Gayle.
“That would be a surprise to everybody, including Oprah,” Gayle said of an appearance by the Obamas. “Would they be welcomed, absolutely, yes!”
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