Biden tells Howard Stern about feelings of suicide after first wife's death
President Biden joined radio host Howard Stern for a surprise live interview Friday, sitting down with the shock jock at his New York City studio for a roughly hourlong discussion about Biden's personal life and his presidency.
In one of the more revealing moments of the interview, Biden recounted his feelings of despair after the death of his first wife, Neilia, and 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, including thinking about getting drunk despite never drinking alcohol.
“I used to sit there and just think, 'I’m going to take out a bottle of scotch,'" Biden said. “'I’m going to just drink it and get drunk.'"
“I just thought about it; you don’t need to be crazy to commit suicide. If you’ve been to the top of the mountain, you think it’s never going to be there again.” Biden added. "I thought, "Let me just go to the Delaware Memorial [Bridge] and jump.'"
Biden encouraged those who are struggling to seek therapy.
The interview caught many by surprise because it was not listed on Biden's public schedule. He spent Thursday night in New York City after attending a fundraiser hosted by actor Michael Douglas in Westchester County.
Stern asked Biden other questions surrounding his personal and professional life, including meeting his first wife, playing football and stories about his stutter growing up. He also spoke of his time in law school, in which he called himself a “jerk” for not taking the schooling seriously, including ditching textbooks.
Stern praised Biden and family repeatedly during the largely friendly interview, also covering Biden's time as a public defender, his willingness to debate former President Trump ahead of November's election and his thoughts on the Supreme Court, which Biden called "maybe the most conservative in modern history."
"Mr. President — look at me, sitting with the president," Stern said near the close of the interview.
"Look at me, sitting with Howard Stern," Biden responded.
At times, the interview turned more lighthearted, including when Stern asked Biden if he ever went on Facebook to look up women who may have rejected him in the past to brag about now serving as the most powerful leader in the world. Biden laughed off the question.
Stern reportedly sought an interview with Biden during the 2020 campaign, but it never came together. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sat down with Stern in 2019 for an interview.
Stern had in the past been friendly with Trump but since has become an outspoken critic of the former president.
The shock jock gained popularity through his nationally syndicated radio show, which moved to SiriusXM in 2006. Biden aides quickly promoted the interview Friday morning, and the president's team has stressed it will seek to meet voters where they are through nontraditional avenues.
Paul Tencher, a former Democratic Senate aide, wrote in a post on the social platform X that Stern's radio program was "truly an important cultural show for voters we desperately need."
Updated at 12:20 p.m. EDT