Last year, Megyn made headlines when she criticized First Lady Jill Biden for her insistence on being called ‘doctor’ all the time.
Biden, who teaches at a community college in northern Virginia, has a doctor of education (EdD) degree from the University of Delaware. Back in 2020, she told late-night host Stephen Colbert that “one of the things I’m most proud of is my doctorate” because “I worked so hard for it.”
Megyn believed the title dropping became particularly egregious when television graphics during the 2023 NFC Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers identified her as “Dr. Jill Biden — First Lady of the United States.” She was sitting in a luxury suite next to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when the TV cameras panned to her.
At the time, Megyn posted about her disgust on X. “Announcers for this Eagles-49ers game just spotted the First Lady in a box and of course call her ‘Dr. Jill Biden,’” she tweeted. “Wonder if she realizes what a wannabe she looks like insisting on this fake title. Get a real MD or just work on your self-esteem.” And she elaborated on The Megyn Kelly Show the next day:
As it turns out, Megyn – who has a juris doctor (JD) degree – is not alone in her belief. On Wednesday’s show, she was joined by Adam Carolla, creator of Mr. Birchum, who expressed a similar frustration with non-medical doctors – be it Biden or Brett Kavanaugh-accuser Christine Blasey Ford, PhD – who wish to use the title.
“By the way, can we knock this doctor crap off,” he asked. “You’ve got to be a physician… sorry, Jill Biden.”
In his view, the term ‘doctor’ is reserved for medical doctors and there is a simple litmus test for it. “If you’re on an airplane and somebody has a heart attack and the stewardess gets on the blower and says, ‘Is there a doctor on this flight?,’ Jill Biden is going to keep her a– planted in her seat,” he noted. “What is she going to do? Read them a children’s book?”
The net-net: “If somebody asks for a doctor on a flight and you stand up, you’re a doctor,” Carolla said. “Other than that, I do not want to call you ‘doctor.'”
You can check out Megyn’s interview with Carolla by tuning in to episode 785 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.