As America watches the events in New York surrounding the legal attack on former President Donald Trump, First Lady Jill Biden is traveling to speaking engagements around the country. Some of the engagements, however, will be rescheduled until a later time as Biden’s travel on a U.S. military plane was interrupted by a safety concern.
The First Lady’s plane was diverted on Monday due to cracks in the windshield of the plane developing after she started on her trip.
“Due to an aircraft issue en route Michigan, the first lady was diverted back to Denver, Colorado,” Vanessa Valdivia, the first lady’s press secretary, said in a tweet on Monday afternoon. “Her trip to Michigan will be postponed to a later date.”
“Everyone is safe. We’re back on the ground in Denver,” the special assistant to the president added.
Biden had swung through the city on Monday as part of the “Investing in America” tour to tout the president’s economic initiatives and workforce training programs. She spoke alongside Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
A spokeswoman for the Air Force’s 89th Airlift Wing told CBS News later in the day about the cause of the diversion that was indeed a cracked windshield, Fox News reports.
“The aircrew elected to divert the aircraft back to Denver International Airport due to a non-threatening windshield crack to mitigate risks associated with the integrity of the windshield and icing conditions at their destination,” she said. “The crew returned safely without any injuries to the passengers or aircrew onboard.”
The first lady was scheduled to head to Michigan for another event on Monday afternoon, but CBS News reports that Biden’s staff says that leg of the trip will be postponed until a later date. She will return home instead.
The spokeswoman for the Air Force said that she would return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday night via a military plane.
The trip to Saginaw, Michigan, to speak at Delta College about the school’s workplace training programs which are central to the Biden Education Pathway will be rescheduled.
Biden is slated to journey to Maine and Vermont on Wednesday for similar events.
“I’ll be focusing on community colleges and jobs. We need to work together to help our students get the education and training they need for the careers they want,” she said Monday. She is expected to keep those travel plans, the New York Post noted.
No comment has been made about the fact that a U.S. military plane suffered such a defect occurring during the trip. Former President Donald Trump has made statements about his own jet, which he bought used and had refurbished to his specifications. Trump launched the refurbished jet this past year as a personal vehicle and is using the jet in his campaign.
The luxury Boeing 757 has been outfitted for Trump, his team, and the press corps in order to efficiently travel to speaking engagements during the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump himself took Daily Mail on a tour of the plane in March, showing the similarities to Air Force One that he had enjoyed while in the White House as well as upgrades and additions to the jet that heighten the usability and efficiency of his travel.
Daily Mail noted during the tour of the plane and the trip with the former president to Waco Texas and back to the east coast that Trump stated the result of the overhaul of the plane is a “plane that puts Air Force One, his ride when he was in office, to shame.”
Fox News Digital’s requests for comment from Joint Base Andrews and the 89th Airlift Wing were not immediately returned on Tuesday. Perhaps the U.S. Air Force should get the name of the plane refurbishing company that Trump used on his plane for some pointers.
Meanwhile, WWLCBS News reports that Jill Biden has received mounting backlash on social media for her statements that she wants the defeated Iowa women’s basketball team to be invited to the White House in addition to the national title winner Louisiana State University, who beat out Iowa in the final game.
In a national-participation-trophy moment, Biden had posted,” I know we have the champions come to the White House, we always do, So we hope LSU will come. But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come too, because they played such a good game.”
No mention was made of other teams that did not win the championship but played wonderful seasons, such as the University of South Carolina Lady Gamecocks, who were undefeated until losing to Iowa in the next-to-last game of the Final Four. It could be stated that they too deserve notice.
But, it seems CBS now reports Jill Biden is now backing off her suggestion and only the champions will be invited. They have not issued as yet their RSVP.
