Message in a jacket: Jill Biden offers ‘love’ during UK trip

CARBIS BAY, England (AP) — Jill Biden is sending a sartorial message of “love” as she accompanies her husband President Joe Biden overseas.

The first lady wore a black jacket with the word “love” outlined on the back in silver beading as she and the president met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Thursday. She wore the same jacket more than two years ago to kick off Biden’s presidential campaign.

“We’re bringing love from America,” she told reporters, explaining her fashion choice.

“This is a global conference and we are trying to bring unity across the globe and I think it’s needed right now, that people feel a sense of unity from all the countries and feel a sense hope after this year of the pandemic.”

Biden is known for her sartorial choices, often donning bright pastels or eye-catching patterns for her outings on behalf of the Biden administration. She is rarely seen without a kitten heel or stiletto boot, adding height to her petite frame.

And this isn’t the first time she’s sent a direct message with her clothes: During a campaign trip to Iowa late last year, Biden wore black skinny jeans bearing the word “VOTE” down each calf.

Biden’s jacket and pants come in contrast to the last first lady to offer a message with her clothes: Melania Trump wore a jacket that read “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” during a trip to a detention center for migrant children in 2018. She wore a different jacket at the shelter.

The first lady is accompanying her husband during the U.K. leg of his foreign trip, where she’ll participate in spouses’ activities at the Group of Seven summit, and a couple of events focused on military veterans and their families. She joined Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, for tea Thursday and tweeted a photo of the two and Johnson’s son, Wilfred, on the shore.

On Friday, Jill Biden, a community college English professor, and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, and mother of three young children, plan to appear together at a preschool in Cornwall and participate in a roundtable discussion on early childhood education, the White House said.

Joe Biden is on his first overseas visit as president. Along with his participation in the G-7 summit and a NATO summit in Brussels, he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Jill Biden said her husband had been “studying for weeks” for the trip and joked that he is “overprepared.”

“Joe loves foreign policy. This is his forte,” she said.

The Bidens are set to meet with Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday at Windsor Castle. The first lady told reporters “that’s an exciting part of the visit for us.”

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

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