Jill Biden (call her Dr. Biden) is scheduled to travel to Romania and Slovakia, her second solo trip since becoming first lady. She will spend Mother’s Day with Ukrainian refugee women and children.

The question is, why is she going on this trip and not her husband, the leader of the free world? She’s going to be in the neighborhood of Ukraine because the purpose of her trip is to show support for American troops and Ukrainian refugees, particularly since most of them are women and children. Why not send Biden and let him cross over into Ukraine as a show of strength? In a post I wrote yesterday, I mentioned that it may not make much of a difference in the long run, but it would be the right thing to do for the President of the United States to show up and show American support in person. C’mon. He’s letting Boris Johnson outshine him when it comes to supporting Zelensky with a personal visit in a war zone. It’s not a competition but America used to be thought of as the world’s leader. Biden is perfectly happy to play second fiddle to European countries. It’s a sign of weakness.

Jill Biden is going to leave on May 5 and travel to Romania, her first stop, to visit service members.

According to the White House advisory, Biden will first stop in Romania to meet with U.S. service members at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase.

She’ll then meet with Romanian officials and embassy staff at the U.S. embassy in Bucharest. Biden, who is herself a teacher, will also meet with humanitarian aid workers and educators working with Ukrainian teens displaced by the conflict in Romania.

In Slovakia, Biden will meet with refugees, humanitarian aid workers and other locals helping refugees in Kosice and Vysne Nemecke. The White House said that Biden would meet with Ukrainian mothers and children May 8 to mark Mother’s Day, which falls on the Sunday during her trip.

The first lady is scheduled to meet with Slovakian officials before heading back to Washington.

That doesn’t sound like an overly-strenuous schedule. Grandpa Joe could probably handle it. He has plenty of security and handlers available to keep him safe and on a relatively timely schedule. Biden is not known for showing up on time to events and meetings.

It’s important to recognize willing partners in the fight against Putin’s war. Romania and Slovakia have taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine. Showing up and thanking them while encouraging them to keep up their efforts is important. I don’t think the first lady carries the same level of importance that a visit from the president provides. No offense, it’s just not the same.

Will Jill Biden’s visit garner much enthusiasm? The American press will be swooning over how brave she is and what a great first lady she is but do Europeans care? Even in the United States, Jill’s popularity is getting a little dinged up over the dismal sales of a new book published about Jill. We know Sleepy Joe’s approval ratings are bad but we’ve been led to believe that Americans like him and Jill just fine. Maybe not so much after all.

Buried in the article: “NPD BookScan, which tracks book sales in the U.S., said that prominent books about Trump released in his first two years of office outsold Biden books during his first year and a half by, what an official there said was, ‘essentially 10:1.’ A newly released biography about Jill Biden, by two well-respected Associated Press journalists, sold just 250 units in its first week, according to the company.”

AP reporters Julie Pace and Darlene Superville wrote “Jill: A Biography of the First Lady.” The book attempts to “reveal some of the private sides of Jill Biden.”

“We come to better understand her personality, which has held the Biden family together through tragedy and good fortune alike,” said the description of the book

Based on book sales, readers are apparently not interested in paying $26 to “better understand” the personality of Jill Biden.

Yikes! Only 250 books sold in the first week. I mean, if Biden set a new record with 81,284,000 votes in the 2020 election, shouldn’t more people be interested in reading about Jill?

Columnist Tim Young pointed out, “81 million votes, but Jill Biden’s new biography only sold 250 total copies in 1 week.”

Republican Congressional candidate Dr. Willie J. Montague added, “81,000,000 votes, though.”

Actor Nick Searcy declared, “EIGHTY-ONE MILLION VOTES FOR THE MOST POPULAR PRESIDENT IN HISTORY.”

Talk show host Chris Stigall noted, “Her husband got the most votes in the history of presidential elections, you know?”

Of course we know that during the previous administration, reporters assumed everyone hated Trump and Melania as much as they did and the only books published about Melania were gotcha kind of books. The fact that these two reporters wanted to publish a book to humanize her with warm and fuzzy stories is all you need to know about the political divide in this country between Democrats and their cohorts in the press and the rest of America. Julie Pace, by the way, isn’t simply a reporter, she is AP Assistant Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief.

Bon voyage, Jill. Be sure to leave someone in charge of Joe to make sure he moves through his days ok while you’re away.