Wall Street Journal opinion editor defends op-ed on Jill Biden: She 'can't be off-limits'
By Justine Coleman - 12/14/20 01:05 PM EST
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page editor defended the op-ed published last week urging incoming first lady Jill Biden to remove the “Dr.†before her name, saying she “can’t be off-limits†to criticism.
Paul Gigot, the head editor for the Journal’s opinion section, published his defense for the piece on Sunday and in Monday’s newspaper and accused President-elect Biden’s team of responding to the op-ed in a “Trumpian†manner.
In the piece entitled “The Biden Team Strikes Back,†Gigot alleged Joe Biden’s team aimed to strategically call attention to the op-ed “to use the big gun of identity politics to send a message to critics as it prepares to take power.â€
Essayist and short-story writer Joseph Epstein wrote the op-ed in question, encouraging the incoming first lady not to refer to herself as a doctor because she is not a medical doctor. Jill Biden earned her doctorate in 2007 from the University of Delaware.
“The Ph.D. may once have held prestige, but that has been diminished by the erosion of seriousness and the relaxation of standards in university education generally, at any rate outside the sciences,†Epstein said in his op-ed.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/media/530109-wall-street-journal-opinion-editor-defends-op-ed-jill-biden-cant-be-off-limits