Jill Biden reveals why she and Joe fight via ‘fexting’ in Harper’s Bazaar interview

Jill Biden has revealed how she and her husband maintain a modicum of privacy in the White House – admitting that they hide any arguments from the Secret Service by battling it out over text in a move that they have come to refer to as ‘fexting’. 

The 70-year-old opened up about her decades-long marriage to President Joe Biden in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar – which this month made her the first-ever First Lady to appear on its cover in its 155-year history – admitting that while she remains her husband’s biggest supporter, she doesn’t hold back when it comes to venting her frustration with him. 

According to Jill, the couple began ‘fexting’ their anger with one another while they were serving as Vice President and Second Lady during Barack Obama‘s presidency, when they realized they needed to find a way to carry on a fight without doing so in front of the Secret Service.

Enter ‘fexting’, a term they coined to describe their text battles, which Jill concedes can become quite heated. 

Jill Biden has opened up about her ‘busy’ life as First Lady while becoming the first wife of a President to appear on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in its 155-year history 

The 70-year-old revealed that she and her husband, President Joe Biden, have come up with a unique way of hiding their arguments from Secret Service – by battling it out over text 

Jill, seen modeling a funky beaded dress in her shoot for the magazine, said that the couple have coined a bizarre term for the text spats: ‘fexting’  

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The First Lady also revealed that the couple will spend their summer ‘raising a teenager’ when their granddaughter Natalie, 17, moves into the White House while doing an internship in D.C.

Of one of their most recent text fights, Jill confessed that she sent a rather bitter message to her husband of more than 40 years – only for him to joke that her insult would ‘go down in history’ because Presidential communications are preserved for the historical record. 

Jill was shot by famed photographer Cass Bird for the publication, which sees her posing in the White House and while attending several events  

‘Joe said, “You realize that’s going to go down in history. There will be a record of that.”‘

She added with a ‘grin’: ‘I won’t tell you what I called him that time.’

The First Lady, who wed Biden in June 1977 – after he famously proposed to her five times – also opened up about the impact of her divorce from her first husband, Bill Stevenson, whom she wed in 1970 and divorced in 1975.

Jill says she was blindsided by the split, which not only forced her to reconsider everything she had once believed about ‘the institution of marriage’ but also left her alone and without a place to live. 

‘I believed so much in the institution of marriage,’ she said. 

‘When the marriage fell apart, I fell hard because of that. And for him to turn out to be who he was…

‘I knew I would never, ever put myself in that position again—where I didn’t feel like I had the finances to be on my own, that I had to get the money through a divorce settlement.’

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She posed in a variety of high-end outfits for the pages of the publication, including this $15,900 white leather dress by Gabriela Hearst

Jill, who wed Joe in June 1977, also opened up about her divorce from her first husband, Bill Stevenson, whom she wed in 1970 and divorced in 1975

Although she and Joe still have their fair share of arguments, Jill says she always tries to ‘be a support’ for her husband by telling him ‘that was great, that was brilliant’

The First Lady was photographed in her home town of Philadelphia, where she was snapped ‘picking up some cheesesteaks and greeting customers’ while wearing a Phillies baseball shirt

The lesson is one that she has made sure to pass down to her daughter, Ashley, 40, and her older granddaughters, Naomi, 28, Finnegan, 22, Maisy, 21, and Natalie, 17. 

‘I drummed that into Ashley: Be independent, be independent. And my granddaughters — you have to be able to stand on your own two feet,’ she said. 

She and Joe also have two grandsons, Robert, 16, and Beau, two, as well as a young granddaughter, Navy, three, whose father Hunter Biden conceived her while still in a relationship with his late brother Beau’s ex-wife Hallie in 2017. 

While the first couple are known to be close to their grandchildren – many of whom helped their grandfather during his presidential campaign and have been seen by his side at a number of events throughout his presidency – they will get a much more hands-on experience this summer when their 17-year-old granddaughter Natalie actually moves into the White House. 

The teenager has secured an internship in D.C. and asked her grandparents if she could move into the White House for the duration of it, news that Jill admits came as something of a shock. 

Jill revealed that her 17-year-old granddaughter Natalie (left) has asked to move into the White House this summer while she completes an internship in D.C. 

‘Really! I’m going to be raising a teenager?’ she marveled. 

Jill was shot for her Harper’s Bazaar feature by Brooklyn-based photographer Cass Bird – who also shot the Obamas for People magazine in 2016 – in her home town of Philadelphia, posing in a number of different historical locations while modeling an array of high-fashion looks. 

One of the priciest pieces to feature in the shoot is a $15,900 leather dress from Gabriela Hearst, which the First Lady paired with Tiffany & Co earrings. 

In two images, she is seen laughing at the camera while sporting a lilac $1,690 belted dress and $1,590 blazer from Adam Lippes. Another photo sees her strolling past the New Hall Military Museum while modeling a blue $2,890 Proenza Schouler dress with funky beaded sleeves. 

However for one of her more candid shots, which shows her ‘picking up some cheesesteaks and greeting customers’ at local eatery Jim’s Steaks, the First Lady opted for a low-key look – wearing jeans, a Phillies baseball shirt, white sneakers, and a navy Ralph Lauren blazer.