Hunter Biden doesn't know the meaning of shame

Telegraph

23-07-2025

Even in an increasingly shameless age, Hunter Biden is pushing the envelope. For reasons perhaps known only to himself, the former first son has decided to return to the public eye to defend his father – further disgracing them both in the process.
The younger Biden has spent a lifetime screwing up – and then landing on his feet, ostensibly because of his famous surname. He is alleged to have made millions as a lobbyist and for working on international business deals while Joe Biden served as a senator and then as vice-president. He is believed to have made another $1.5 million during his brief career as an artist, which coincidentally corresponded with his father's tenure in the Oval Office. And he avoided prison time, despite two criminal convictions, after President Biden went back on his word and pardoned him.
That's to say nothing of the drugs or the women – or indeed the court testimony of his late brother's widow, who testified that Hunter had introduced her to crack cocaine.
Now, the younger Biden seems to imagine we've forgotten all of this, apparently believing that he is the best man to launch a quixotic solo mission to rescue his family's honour. Instead, however, he's only showcased the Bidens' trademark delusion and entitlement.
During an interview with Andrew Callaghan released earlier this week, Hunter blamed almost everyone but his father for the Democrats' stunning defeat in the 2024 presidential election.
'What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f—ing life to the service of his country, and decide that you, George Clooney, are going to take out basically a full-page ad in f—ing The New York Times to undermine the president?,' he asked. As if Clooney, a long-time Democratic supporter, who wrote a column in July last year calling on Biden to stand down, had no right to take a view on whether the party's nominee would win the election.
About his father's humiliating performance during his debate with Trump last year, Hunter produced the following excuse: '[Joe Biden] flew around the world ‒ basically the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times. He's 81 years old. He's tired as s—. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep. He gets up on the stage, and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights, and it feeds into every f—ing story that anybody wants to tell.'
The issue wasn't his father's disastrous performance, apparently, but the fact that Democrats refused to ignore it. During a separate conversation with former Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, Hunter claimed: ' We lost the last election because we did not remain loyal to the leader of the party … We had the advantage of incumbency, we had the advantage of an incredibly successful administration, and the Democratic Party literally melted down.'
That's the view out of Bidenworld, a land every bit as fanciful as Narnia, Oz, or Shangri-La.
But it's more than fanciful. It's shameless. The instinct isn't to come clean as to what really happened, but to attack those who (belatedly) tried to expose the truth. Journalists like Jake Tapper – who Hunter appears to have a particular animus for – deserve criticism not for shining a light on the extent of the 46th president's decline and its cover-up, but for failing to do so earlier.
And the public simply did not agree that Joe Biden's presidency was 'incredibly successful'. He was on track to lose to Trump well before his debate performance. Also, for the record, being 81 years old and 'tired as s—' isn't an excuse for Biden's meltdown, it's what was so concerning about it.
It is only a little over six months since Joe Biden left the White House, having tarnished his legacy by clinging to power far longer than was appropriate and, yes, by bailing out his disgraceful son.
It's said that time heals all wounds. Not in this case. Hunter Biden is picking at an open sore on the face of his party, and it's unlikely to recover until he returns to the wilderness for good.