When Jill Biden helped wrestle a protester off the stage at her husband’s Super Tuesday victory rally, the internet predictably went wild.
On Instagram, comedian Amy Schumer narrated a slowed-down video of the incident, describing how Ms Biden “jumps right in front of Joe and sets up the block … turns, claps. Back on her mark.”
The New Yorker’s Jonathan Chait gave another blow-by-blow analysis: “Jill Biden using good pass-pro technique. Moves her feet, extends her arms, keeps balanced and stays between rusher and Joe. Should have been a left tackle.”
Josh Billinson simply sounded surprised: “Did not have ‘Jill Biden trucks a vegan’ on my Super Tuesday Bingo card.”
Others wondered where Ms Biden’s skill and steel would take her. “If any NFL teams are scouting for a right guard, Jill Biden is available,” wrote Amy Siskind.
But when it comes to moonlighting as a not-to-be-messed-with campaign bouncer, Ms Biden has previous.
Back in February, as her husband campaigned in the snows of New Hampshire, the prospective first lady stepped into the fray when a man filming himself on a smartphone breached the rope line around the candidate and began yelling at him.
Calm and collected, Ms Biden left the sidelines and walked straight up to the protester, pushing him back off the floor before turning and cooly striding back to her place.
Then as now, the response was joyous. And Ms Biden had fun with it too, calling herself “a good Philly girl”.
But there was another heroine at the scene on Super Tuesday: Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders, who took advantage of Ms Biden’s obstruction to lock her arm around the protester and drag her, writhing, off the stage.
She too has earned a new fanbase with her fearless takedown, many signing her up to the same helmet-and-pads-needed contact sports Ms Biden is now tipped for. As the Daily Caller’s Greg Price put it, “Symone Sanders is now a projected first round NFL draft pick”.
Ms Sanders’s only acknowledgement of the incident? A single tweet: “I broke a nail.”
