![]() ![]() “Every day, this president wakes up and thinks about his deceased son and probably cries every day. So sensitive are White House aides about the matter that “everybody walks around on eggshells in the West Wing” and are loath to raise the topic, another source familiar with the matter said. The president and first lady are even more reluctant to hear about any of the political implications from close aides and are resigned to the fact that Hunter’s legal problems will likely worsen in the months ahead, this person said. But the recent shift in their outlook has been dramatic, the source said.īiden, 80, has even since lamented aloud that he might be dead before his son’s case would be resolved, according to another source close to the Bidens. The emotional toll continues to weigh heavily on the president and first lady, who approach the most sensitive family matters as a father and mother above all else, according to a source familiar with their thinking. Hunter, his wife and their young son, Beau, joined the president and first lady during a separate getaway last month in Lake Tahoe as Hunter’s legal team sparred with Delaware prosecutors over the next steps in his case, and House Republicans continued taking steps to ramp up their investigations. ![]() Instead, despite cheery public appearances - a date night out with the first lady, bike rides and time on the beach - both the president, and particularly Jill Biden, were consumed with worry, not just over the legal challenges facing their son, but with the unwelcome public spotlight shone on his personal life, and whether they should publicly acknowledge a daughter he fathered with an Arkansas woman during the peak of his struggles with drug addiction. Biden left the courthouse pleading not guilty to tax and gun-related charges.ĭays later, the president set off to Rehoboth Beach for a weeklong getaway that was meant to help recharge him for the looming campaign. The president's son acknowledged, under oath in a federal courtroom, his battles with alcohol and substance abuse, and a judge picked apart the terms of the deal, revealing a rift about whether it represented the end of a multiyear investigation. ![]() The White House at the time issued a brief statement saying that the Bidens “love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life.”īut rather than the beginning of the end, the deal unraveled just weeks later. The gun charge, in turn, would have been on a path toward dismissal in two years if Hunter Biden abided by the terms of a separate agreement with prosecutors. Attorney in Delaware had announced an agreement with Hunter Biden that would have resulted in prosecutors recommending probation in return for a guilty plea on tax charges. Just three months ago, things appeared to be on a more hopeful path for the Biden family. But he also has obviously an ability to compartmentalize his personal challenges with his public duties and his public vision,” Hoyer said. Hoyer said in an interview that the president was generally “upbeat” but also offered that he was “ticked off” about the House Republicans’ move to open an impeachment inquiry this week, seeing it as a distraction from the issues facing the nation. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who spent time with Biden on Thursday just moments after the indictment was announced. Especially a parent who lost a child too early in life,” said Rep. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a huge, huge concern for the president - as it would be for any parent. “It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him,” Biden told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle this year when asked how potential charges might affect him.īut at the very least, developments this week are crowding the president’s message in public and his focus in private. The White House has repeatedly denied wrongdoing by the president, and Biden himself has said he is proud of his son’s strength in taking responsibility for a dark period in his life. Biden himself now faces an impeachment inquiry as House Republicans seek to connect him to his son’s business interests, including with foreign entities. A distracted president, perhaps more prone to mistakes or missteps, is the political toll people close to Biden worry could hurt him in 2024 as his son faces at least one indictment and potentially trials in multiple jurisdictions stemming from his conduct during the height of his drug addiction.
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