Jill Biden awkwardly tells the audience “thought you were going to clap” after she got no applause

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By means of Victor Nava

May 25, 2023 | 7:13 PM

First lady Jill Biden experienced a Jeb Bush moment of applause on Thursday, when her line of applause fell completely flat at an event in Washington.

“I’ve visited red states and blue states, and I’ve found that the common values ​​that unite us go deeper than our divisions,” Jill told an audience at the Reagan Institute Summit on Education in Washington, DC.

After saying the line, the first lady paused before responding with surprise to the non-reaction of spectators.

“And, uh, I thought you’d applaud for that,” Biden said, to laughter and applause.

The first lady’s plea for praise was reminiscent of former Republican presidential nominee Jeb Bush’s viral moment of desperation on the campaign trail in 2016.

The former Florida governor asked an audience in New Hampshire with a mixture of politeness and exasperation to “clap please” after delivering a line from his stupid speech that was meant to shake up the crowd — but he didn’t.

The first lady experienced a similar awkward moment in 2019 while campaigning for her husband.

She told a small audience in Iowa that if Joe Biden were elected president, Americans would say to themselves, “At last someone will stand up to the NRA and keep our kids and our schools safe.”

The comment only attracted a reaction after a shocked Jill Biden exclaimed, “That’s my line of applause, come on!”

The RISE conference “hosts education leaders from around the country,” according to the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute.

The first lady holds a faculty position at Northern Virginia Community College, where she teaches English.

Former Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson — a 2024 GOP presidential candidate — and Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore were among the other speakers at the annual event.