The Year of Family Affair
See you again! The Menendez family isn’t the only one navigating the complexities of family, politics and the courts. With court cases and family entanglements dominating the political landscape right now, the year’s major storylines have added a layer of family drama, pushing the typical roles of politicians’ spouses, children and parents into new territory.
On Monday, First Lady Jill Biden appeared in court at the trial of Hunter Biden, who is accused of lying about drug use on a federal firearms application in 2018. She spent the day, her 73rd birthday, in the front row of the courtroom, listening intently to interviews of potential jurors and giving her son a long hug during a break, my colleagues Glenn Thrash and Eileen Sullivan reported. Here’s what they wrote:
The presence of family and friends, including Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, his half-sister Ashley Biden and close friend Kevin Morris, was a reminder that the trial was also a deeply personal crisis for a family that has endured much hardship in the midst of one of the most bitter presidential campaigns in recent memory.
Some members of Donald Trump’s family provided emotional support during his criminal trial — his son Eric became an increasingly prominent presence in the courtroom as the trial progressed, while the former president’s wife, Melania, never appeared — but they also played another role: delivering aggressive political messages.
Eric, his wife Lara, and his brother Donald Trump Jr. held fiery press conferences during the trial denounced the trial and solicited campaign funds. And over the weekend, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump appeared on television on Sunday to denounce former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, one of the few Republicans who defended her father-in-law and called on the public to respect the verdict.
—Jess Bidgood
