Jill Biden Working to Help Eastern European Countries’ Ukrainian Refugee Efforts: ‘So Many Children Without Parents’
First Lady Jill Biden discussed why she wanted to meet with Ukrainian refugees, saying in an interview that aired on Saturday that she wanted to “go stand with the mothers of Ukraine” on Mother’s Day.
“Like most Americans watching the TV, we saw all those mothers gathering their children, kissing their husbands goodbye, and then leaving the country,” Biden said in a taped interview with MSNBC’s Symone Sanders. “And it just was so emotional and just so heart-wrenching. And I said to Joe, ‘I can’t sit by, I just can’t sit by and do nothing.'”
The First Lady traveled to Romania and Slovakia this weekend to meet with refugee mothers and children who fled Ukraine, as well as to meet with U.S. troops and tour schools that have accepted refugee students.
“You ask yourself, ‘Could I do that? Could I leave my country, my husband, everyone I love, and move on to something unknown?'” Biden told Sanders.
She added that the refugees have shown resilience and strength, and that they’ve been her “inspiration.”
“If they can be strong, then I can be strong for them,” Biden said. “So I hope I bring strength, saying the people of the United States — I hope that they know that I have the hearts of everyone in the United States, I’m carrying the United States with me to say we’re standing with you.”
She noted that she has spoken over the phone with the First Lady of Poland, who relayed to her a list of things they need assistance with.
“They need so much,” Biden told Sanders. “You know they have so many children without parents, you know, so many orphans that need childcare, that need clothing, that need…health supplies, I mean they need food.”
She added, “She gave me a list and we’re working on it.”
Watch above, via MSNBC
