President Joe Biden’s Hunter Biden dilemma grows

Ahead of opening statements in Hunter Biden’s gun possession trial, which is expected to take place Tuesday, his father released a statement that highlights the fine line he’s trying to walk in the midst of his re-election campaign.

“I’m president, but I’m also a father,” President Joe Biden said as jury selection began Monday.

In his statement, he expressed support for his son, who faces up to 25 years in prison for lying about his drug addiction while filling out background documents for a handgun purchase in 2018.

“As president, I do not and will not comment on pending federal matters,” he added. “But as a father, I have deep love for my son, trust him, and respect for his strength.”

Hunter Biden’s struggle with addiction is now common knowledge. He has discussed it publicly and written about it in his memoir – revelations that will soon serve as evidence in his trial and become a topic of discussion for many.

Joe Biden has spoken publicly about his son’s tumultuous personal life before. In the first presidential debate with Donald Trump in 2020, he said he was “proud” of his only surviving son.

“My son, like a lot of people you know at home, had a drug problem,” he said. “He’s gotten over it. He’s cured it. He’s worked through it.”

Four years ago, President Biden was responding to Trump’s attacks on the debate stage. His statement now, however, may be an attempt to defuse a politically tense moment where his son’s troubling past — and, by extension, the entire Biden family’s past — will be on full display.

Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle is expected to testify about her ex-husband’s drug addiction. Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden’s brother Beau — with whom Hunter was later romantically involved and who threw a handgun in a Delaware trash can — is also on the prosecution’s witness list.

“It’s definitely not good,” says Kate Anderson Brower, who has written several books on U.S. presidents, their families and first ladies. She says presidents have had to deal with family turmoil in the past. Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, for example, were embarrassed by siblings.

However, it is entirely unprecedented for a president’s son to face criminal prosecution, and this has created a difficult situation for the senior Biden.

He spent time with his son in Delaware this weekend, and on Sunday night he was in Wilmington — where the trial will take place. During jury selection on Monday, the Biden family was well represented.

But by then the President had returned to Washington. Although he has expressed support for his son, he is maintaining distance from the matter.

But First Lady Jill Biden was also present and sat behind Hunter. The two exchanged hugs during morning breaks in court proceedings and again after the day ended. Hunter’s current wife Melissa Cohen Biden — who held his hand as he left the courtroom — and his half-sister Ashley Biden and her husband also accompanied him.

Jill Biden married the president after his first wife, Hunter Biden’s mother, died in a car accident in 1972 that injured Hunter and Beau. His younger sister, Naomi, also died in the accident.

The president regularly speaks about his family’s closeness — and he has made this devotion part of his political identity.

He described how he took the train from Washington to Delaware every night as a U.S. senator so he could say goodnight to his children. He wrote a book about dealing with grief after Beau Biden’s death from brain cancer in 2016 and discussed the emotional trauma he experienced after the death of his first wife.

Now, the more unsavory aspects of the Biden family story will be on public display, such as text messages between Hunter Biden and his family — including intimate communications with Beau’s widow.

There will also be photos and other details about Hunter Biden’s crack cocaine use. Some of it may have been taken from the laptop computer whose existence and contents became a controversial part of the final days of the 2020 presidential election.

Hunter Biden’s trial comes on the heels of one of the biggest stories of the 2024 presidential election so far – Trump’s indictment on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Though the two cases are vastly different – charges against a candidate versus a candidate’s son – the tone of the two trials will inevitably lead to comparisons.

At the very least, the focus on the Biden family drama and Hunter Biden’s legal troubles will divert media attention from Trump. And the legal issues involving his son could make Mr Biden more reluctant to launch attacks on Trump’s criminal convictions.

It could also be an important distraction for the president, who is heading into the final campaign of his political career.

“This is going to be very difficult for Biden on a personal level,” says Brower. “He has experience keeping his private life separate from his public life, but this is his only living son. It will be very cumbersome.”

Hunter Biden’s legal drama differs from Trump’s in another way. The former president’s three other criminal cases probably won’t be settled before the November election.

However, Hunter Biden has also been indicted on federal tax charges, with a trial scheduled for September.

The case, which allegedly involves failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years, could be more politically damaging to the president because it involves financial crimes rather than matters related to his drug addiction.

“It’s very hard to make excuses about tax evasion,” Brower says.

If Hunter Biden is convicted in any federal prosecution, it is within his father’s presidential power to pardon him.

In the past such a move might have been politically toxic, but Trump has exercised his authority to pardon a number of controversial individuals who worked for him and appears to have paid little price for it.

While it’s a course of action that could be appealing to father Joe Biden — he has insisted his son is innocent — the White House has insisted it’s not being considered.