MADISON, Wis. — First lady Jill Biden spent Thursday afternoon in Madison, becoming the third dignitary from the White House to visit Wisconsin just this month.

However, unlike the visits from Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, this trip was less political and more personal.

In 2016, President Biden led an initiative as vice president called Cancer Moonshot, which focused on speeding up the fight against cancer on all fronts.

What You Need To Know

  • First lady Jill Biden visited Madison on Thursday for a tour of Exact Sciences followed by a stop at the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness

  • The first part of the trip was less political and more personal as it focused on increasing access to early detection cancer screenings

  • Later in the day, Biden attended a back-to-school educator appreciation event, as well as a political fundraiser

  • Her trip to Wisconsin comes after President Biden and Vice President Harris visited the state earlier this month for separate events

Last year, the Biden family picked up where they left off with a new goal for the nation to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years.

During a tour of the Exact Sciences laboratories, first lady Biden got a close-up look at how colon cancer screening tests are processed from start to finish.

“I did think when we walked in, and I saw the robot, you know, taking the boxes, and I thought I’ve seen so many of those programs through workforce development, so it did really hit my head. This is great,” Biden said while on the tour.

First lady Jill Biden is joined by Sen. Tammy Baldwin for a roundtable conversation with cancer survivors at the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness in Madison, Wis. (Spectrum News 1/Mandy Hague)

Afterward, Biden turned the conversation to improving access to cancer screenings during a visit to the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness. The local non-profit provides a support group, among other services, called ‘Cancer Thriver Circle.’

“There is power in sharing our stories, and it really demystifies that ‘c-word,’ and it gives the thriver their power back,” cancer survivor Christine Russell explained.

The trip to Wisconsin comes as a bipartisan bill aimed at increasing access to life-saving screenings for those with dense breast tissue makes its way through the Legislature.

For the first lady, those efforts hit close to home as she and the president deal with the grief of losing their own son.

“This is very personal to us,” Biden told the group. “Cancer Moonshot is about, you know, where we stop cancer before it starts, and we make treatments more affordable if it does. Where we actually catch it early and help people to live longer, healthier, happier lives.”

Her trip to Wisconsin comes just two weeks after President Biden visited Milwaukee to highlight the anniversary of his Inflation Reduction Act.

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