The president beckoned to his son, Hunter, standing nearby, to listen and take part in fine-tuning the remarks that would be read off the teleprompter and delivered to a nation that has grown deeply suspicious of the president’s intellectual acuity in the aftermath of his stumbling and incoherent performance at the debate four days earlier.
Hunter’s presence that night raised eyebrows among some White House officials, who saw a politically charged family member’s reinvolvement in public life as an unsettling sign. But to his family and those close to him, it was the latest sign that he was stabilizing his life and assuming the role of confidant and sounding board he had long played around his father.
The past few weeks have been remarkable across the political world, but they have been equally tumultuous inside the close-knit Biden clan, unfolding as the latest chapter in a long saga of a family that has forged resolve amid turmoil. Family members quickly expressed a range of emotions, people close to them said, from grief to anger to determination and deep frustration at what they see as betrayal and doubt against a man who has served as a dedicated leader of the Democratic Party for half a century.
The film, which portrays the Biden family as their patriarch is in crisis, is based on interviews with people with direct knowledge of the family’s thinking and private actions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue surrounding the president’s inner circle.
Biden’s family has been frequently with him in recent weeks as he tries to weather the political storm that has followed his debate performance, including first lady Jill Biden at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. She accompanied him to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday and as calls for him to reconsider his decision to continue campaigning grew by the day.
Hunter, who lives in California, flew to see Biden during Biden’s recent campaign visit to Las Vegas. The two have remained in close contact, with Hunter playing a role in tracking, exchanging ideas and checking in with his father through daily, sometimes hourly, phone calls. Other family members continue to make daily phone calls and exchange frequent text messages as usual.
But in a family where anyone can call an emergency meeting, no one has convened the clan to discuss the patriarch’s political future, despite speculation from outsiders that a grand family meeting might be called.
At the root of the family’s anger is a belief that Biden could have fared better than a dismal 90-minute debate performance if so many Democrats hadn’t immediately joined forces against him. They have come to see the past few weeks as a “Game of Thrones”-like battle between different factions of the party. The strongest calls for Biden to leave have come from the faction he has fought against in previous battles. The willingness of some in the party to oust him has only strengthened his resolve to stay, they say.
“They don’t seem to know he’s Irish,” said one person close to the family.
The most shocking development in this private world may be Hunter Biden’s return to a central supporting role just weeks after his criminal trial became a source of personal anxiety and political crisis.
When he was convicted on June 11 of a felony for lying on a gun purchase application, his family supported him: His father called to make sure his son was OK and hugged him on the tarmac at Wilmington Airport.
But seemingly overnight, the roles of father and son have reversed: As Joe Biden fights for his political life, Hunter has spoken frequently with his father and offered his support amid a flurry of skeptical Democrats.
While Hunter and Jill Biden are often portrayed as irrational cheerleaders trying to persuade the president to stay on while his political advisers urge him to reconsider, the family dynamics are far more nuanced, according to interviews with people close to the family. The president has made it clear from the start that he has no intention of stepping down, and his family has always been adamant that they will support him no matter what. Biden could still change his mind, and people close to the family say they would support that decision, too.
As for Hunter Biden, the past few weeks have shown how father and son, each no stranger to tragedy and trauma, have weathered a series of extraordinarily difficult moments, for themselves and each other.
“They’re both more concerned with not hurting each other than anything else,” said one person close to the family. “There’s a Shakespearean quality to it.”
Surviving a legal blow
At approximately 11:15 a.m. on June 11, a federal jury in Delaware found Hunter Biden guilty of felony firearms charges for lying on paperwork when purchasing a gun in 2018. But the week-long trial also laid bare, in sometimes painful detail, the humiliating and disturbing actions of Biden as he struggled with drug addiction.
After the verdict, Hunter hugged each member of his defense team to express his gratitude and consoled his lead lawyer, Abe Lowell, by whispering, “It’s going to be OK.”
Mr Hunter then gathered with friends and family in a crowded room nearby to watch what some in attendance described as an emotional scene, with Mr Hunter remaining calm while many were in tears after the shock verdict that shocked some in his camp.
“Hey guys, I’m OK. This isn’t hell,” Hunter said, according to people at the scene. “My addiction was hell. Whatever happens, I am standing here today, and that is all that matters.”
The president, who was in Washington, called his son and made plans to fly quickly to Wilmington to meet Hunter. The two met on the runway at the Delaware Air National Guard Base and embraced before Hunter returned to his home in Los Angeles with his wife and young son, Beau.
That evening, the president and first lady made personal calls to several people who had attended the trial to thank them and ask how they thought Hunter was doing.
The answer I got was that he seemed surprisingly strong. Although this was undoubtedly a major legal setback and could have led to prison time, he seemed to have achieved a degree of personal stability.
Joe Biden was soon leaving for the Group of Seven meeting in Italy with several of Hunter’s older daughters, including Naomi, who testified at the trial.
A Weekend at Camp David
Nearly two weeks later, when the fateful presidential debate took place in Atlanta, Hunter was at home in California, Jill Biden was with her husband, and the Biden grandchildren were scattered across the country.
Afterward, they learned that the debate had gone poorly and worried about the impression it had left, but it didn’t change their approach to the campaign.
While many outside the family assumed Biden was soon faced with a decision about whether to continue in the race, that never seemed to be an issue for the president himself. He saw the debate as just a setback in an otherwise smooth campaign, an obstacle that many in life face. That stance was adopted with little discussion among his family.
“He’s not in a position where he’s thinking, ‘Should I resign or shouldn’t I resign?’ That’s not who Joe Biden is as a person,” one person close to the family said. “He wasn’t on the fence until he spoke with Hunter and Jill.”
By late Saturday night, some 48 hours after the debate, the whole family was at Camp David — not for an emergency meeting but for a gathering scheduled just a few days before Independence Day. Just a few weeks ago, the question was how Mr. Hunter would handle his critics; now it was how Joe would handle them.
The atmosphere that weekend, private and away from his political advisers, set the tone for the tumultuous weeks that followed: Biden would stay in office, his family would support him, and the question was how to proceed with the campaign, not whether to continue.
Like their patriarch, many in the family believe the election will remain close. They dismiss polls showing the opposite and don’t think an alternative candidate can beat Trump. Deep down, Biden is convinced he’s the underdog who has been consistently underestimated by party leaders only to prove them wrong.
But the family resists the idea that they have any say in the decision. They resent any notion that they are propping up the president. They say that with their input and support, the president can make these big decisions as he always has.
Family discussions can also have a redemptive aspect.
Five years ago, when Mr. Biden decided to run for president, his family was deeply divided after the death of his son Beau, and he was plagued by divorce, infidelity and addiction problems, and in some ways, Hunter was further away from his father than he had ever been.
At a gathering at Camp David after the debate, the family was shown to be largely united, with Hunter remaining as close to his father’s life as he was before his drug addiction left him.
A clear awareness of the danger
The family continued to hang out together when they returned to the White House after a weekend at Camp David. They celebrated the Fourth of July together. Ashley Biden was seen dancing on the porch, clinging to her father’s waist from behind. Granddaughter Maisy wrote, “I’m [heart] It said “Joe.”
Jill stood beside him as they watched the fireworks explode in the sky.
Hunter returned to Los Angeles on July 5 while his father headed to Wisconsin to campaign, and the two remain in close contact.
Biden remains convinced he is the best option for the party, and his family supports him on that front, according to people close to the family, but they also recognize that things can change quickly in politics and Biden may stay fully engaged until he completely withdraws.
“Hunter supports whatever his dad wants to do and trusts his dad’s judgement,” a source close to the family said. “Whenever his dad says, ‘I can’t trust you with this,’ Hunter responds, ‘You’re the best, Dad. I love you, I trust you and I support you.'”
Hunter has faced the most scrutiny of any member of his family since his father became president, so it could be argued that he would be better off hoping his father steps aside than endure another four years of unwanted attention in a tough reelection fight.
But some family members worry that if Biden withdraws and Trump wins, he could use the Justice Department to target Hunter.
In recent days, as Democrats have publicly called for Biden to step down, those close to the family have become more aggressive, arguing that if Biden does step down, he should make the decision based on his own political instincts, not outside pressure from people like George Clooney, former President Barack Obama or former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Still, Biden’s family members are unaware that the storm surrounding them is so turbulent that it’s hard for them to predict how things will play out, people familiar with the matter said.
“They’re not ignoring reality. They’re not ignoring reality,” one person close to the family said. “They’ve been very calm about this from the beginning, and that continues to be the case.”
