Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked President-elect Joe Biden's wife, Jill, on his nightly programme on Monday for using the prefix "Dr."
"Jill Biden is not a doctor, no...Maybe in the same sense Dr. Pepper is," Carlson said, adding that she has the "same degree as Dr. Bill Cosby."
Carlson also said Jill Biden is suffering from a "very serious case of status anxiety."
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by essayist and short-story writer Joseph Epstein, who argued that "Dr. Jill Biden sounds and feels fraudulent" and addressed her as "Madame First Lady-Mrs. Biden-Jill-kiddo."
"Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title 'Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students' Needs'...A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child," Epstein wrote.
According to Epstein, "the Ph.D. may once have held prestige" but "has been diminished by the erosion of seriousness and the relaxation of standards in university education generally."
His article provoked a backlash, with some of Biden's allies, including Michelle Obama and the husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, defending the incoming First Lady.
Jill Biden is currently a community college teacher and earned a doctorate of education from the University of Delaware in January 2007.
After the WSJ's article was published, the University of Delaware took to Twitter to share a picture of Mrs Biden during a ceremony to receive her Doctor of Education title.
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership: @DrBiden, Class of 2006. #BlueHensForever pic.twitter.com/7xKu64Js55
— Univ. of Delaware (@UDelaware) December 14, 2020
