Before President Biden announced his plans to drop out of the presidential race Sunday, one senior administration official lashed out at first son Hunter Biden’s seemingly more pronounced role in his father’s decision of whether to continue his campaign.
At the beginning of the month, Hunter was spotted sitting in on meetings in the West Wing, and some aides felt he was playing a crucial role in helping his father navigate questions about his fitness for office.
“He and his son are playing this victimhood thing — ‘I was mistreated under [Barack] Obama,’” one anonymous senior administration official told Politico.
“It’s insane. He wasn’t mistreated. But he conjures this up in his head and once it’s there, it’s very hard to get out.”
Many in the White House and Biden administration broadly felt somewhat walled off from the president’s inner orbit, according to Politico’s sources.
Hunter has credited his father for helping him during the throes of his crack cocaine addiction, and even hailed him for helping to “save my life.”
Throughout all the criticisms of Hunter’s overseas business machinations and alleged influence peddling, Biden has tried to defend his son, maintaining he is proud of him.
“For his whole life, he’s been trying to protect Hunter, encourage Hunter to step up, encourage Hunter to be the person he wants him to be. Finally, Hunter is doing exactly that. He’s stepping up,” the official added.
“And who is he protecting? It’s not the father protecting the son. It’s the son protecting the father. And there’s a bonding moment that none of us totally understand. All of a sudden, you have something that the father has wanted his whole life with his son, and he’s finally getting it now in a weird way.”
On Sunday, Biden officially announced he would step aside amid the growing concerns from Democrats over his ability to win against former President Donald Trump.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” he said in a public letter.
“I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”
Biden went on to thank Vice President Kamala Harris “for being an extraordinary partner in all this work.”
He is the oldest president in US history at the age of 82. If Trump wins in November and serves out a full second term, he will win that title from him.