Hunter Biden says dad Joe was on Ambien during disastrous 2024 debate with Trump
Former first son Hunter Biden claimed in a new interview Monday that his father's disastrous performance in last year's debate with Donald Trump was due in part to the 46th president taking Ambien — which there is no record of him being prescribed.
'I know exactly what happened in that debate,' Hunter, 55, told YouTube personality Andrew Callaghan in an interview released on the anniversary of Biden prematurely ending his re-election bid.
Advertisement
3 Former President Joe Biden, his sister Valerie Biden, and his son Hunter Biden on July 26, 2024.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
3 Hunter Biden said his dad was on Ambien during his fateful debate with Donald Trump before the 2024 election.
Getty Images
'He flew around the world. He's 81 years old. He's tired. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep and he gets up on the stage and looks like a deer in the headlights.'
A note released by Dr. Kevin O'Connor following Biden's physical exam that February makes note of six medications the commander-in-chief was taking — but the popular sleeping aid is not one of them.
Advertisement
The former first son also downplayed the extent of the Democratic revolt against his father that led to Joe Biden giving up the Democratic nomination.
3 Jill and Joe Biden depart the stage after the former president's debate with Donald Trump.
Getty Images
'The people who came out against him were nobody, except … Speaker Emeritus [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] did not give a full-throated endorsement,' he said.
'The entirety of the progressive side of the Democratic Party said Joe Biden has got more of our agenda accomplished in four years than any president in history.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
23 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana Democrats need a moral comeback to stage a political one
I'm not a cynical person. I believe deeply in the power of people, relationships, and community to make things better. But when it comes to politics, especially right now, cynicism can feel like the only rational response. The most generous possible description of the current occupant of the White House is that he's a self-dealing narcissist with a mysterious charisma and an emotionally resonant economic critique of the last 40 years. The previous administration, by many credible accounts, functioned as a shadow presidency with an unelected cabal of aides and lackeys pulling the levers of power as the incumbent's mental deterioration accelerated in plain view. The state level, at least here in Indiana, doesn't offer much consolation. Many of our elected officials are unserious about governing; some are actively harmful. There's not a lot to justify even a shred of idealism. In other words, the moral high ground in politics, circa 2025, doesn't count for much. Unless, of course, the moral high ground is all you have. I've been writing this column for about six months now, and most of my ire has been directed at Indiana Republicans. They hold 85%–90% of the power in this state, so it seems only fair they receive a commensurate amount of scrutiny. I could pick more on Democrats, but why? The most coherent argument Indiana Dems have offered over the past decade is: 'Look at those crazy Republicans! At least we're not them!' It's an argument built almost entirely on outrage and a vague sense of moral and intellectual superiority. Yet, in just the past five years, several prominent Indiana Democratic officeholders (of the few that still exist) have been credibly accused of various creepy and distasteful acts. Most of these probably don't rise to the level of criminal offenses, but they are, without question, the acts of morally bankrupt individuals. The only thing worse than the individual acts is the top-to-bottom institutional complicity. The state party refuses to act. Party officials sweep credible allegations under the rug. The City-County Council orders a third-party investigation, which is then immediately hamstrung with lawyerly hair-splitting over 'legality,' when the real question should be about propriety and public trust. And Mayor Joe Hogsett, the de facto moral leader of the party, shrinks from the spotlight and shirks his responsibility. Briggs: Todd Young's political survival means never fully crossing Trump As much as it pains me to say it, this stands in stark contrast to the last time a prominent Hoosier Republican faced a similar scandal. When former Attorney General Curtis Hill was accused of unwanted sexual advances, the GOP replaced him at its convention. When Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor faced (arguably) more serious accusations, the caucus initially voted to keep him in leadership. This might all sound like holier-than-thou primping and preening. After all, as previously established, modern politics is a cynical, zero-sum game. That's why my point isn't really about moral propriety, but about political ineptitude. Indiana Democrats seem to think that because they have so little power, they have to protect what scraps they do have. But I think they're getting it backwards. The question isn't 'how do we hold on to the little we've got?' The question is: 'What exactly are we sticking up for?' To illustrate — because, apparently, I'm the tortured sports metaphor guy — let's talk Bobby Knight. When he was leading undefeated teams and raising banners in the 1970s and '80s, he was untouchable. By all accounts, he was the same guy in 2000 when he was fired for an altercation with a student. But, by then, the program had been mired in mediocrity for years. The glory days were long gone. Knight was expendable, so he was canned. Opinion: I was dragged out by sheriff's deputies. Indiana Democrats stayed silent. Back to the Dems: What banners have their harassing and complicit officials raised? What accomplishments justify the tolerance of such behavior? They hold no meaningful state power. Even their grip on Indianapolis is routinely undermined by the legislature. What exactly are they defending, other than personal relationships and individual careers? I want a credible Democratic Party in Indiana. Yes, I agree with them on many of the big issues. But more than that, I want a real competition of ideas and a political landscape that generates better policies to improve Hoosier lives. Here's the bottom line: The moral high ground isn't worth much in politics these days, unless it's all you have. If Indiana Democrats want to make a political comeback, it begins with making a moral one.
Indianapolis Star
23 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Public media isn't partisan — reality just leans left
Deputy Opinion Editor Jacob Stewart's column, "Public media funding cuts create fair competition for local news in Indiana," ignores reality. We need look no further than recent events involving the capitalistic and capitulatory decision by CBS to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to see the value of public media. Stewart points out that 87% of people who name NPR as their main source of news are Democrats or Democrat-leaning but fails to understand why this is the case. In the 1980s, President Reagan eliminated the Fairness Doctrine from television and radio and right-wing propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity capitalized on this. It takes only a few minutes of listening to NPR to understand that it is not the left-wing equivalent of conservative talk radio. Rather, it is a purer form of news and information. Do we also not trust C-SPAN since the government funds it as a public utility? Even Stewart acknowledges that NPR did not deliberately attract a more Democratic-leaning audience. It just happened that way because conservative talk radio and networks like Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax have found a great deal of profit in confirming their viewers' and listeners' biases. Opinion: Critics said Trump would ruin America. Six months in, he's proving them wrong. I, for one, am grateful that we have some media outlets that are focused on informing and educating the public, not turning a profit. As Stephen Colbert said at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, which aired on C-SPAN, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
CNN
44 minutes ago
- CNN
Democratic socialists fresh off Mamdani victory see opportunity in Minneapolis
State & local racesFacebookTweetLink Follow Less than a month after Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York City's mayoral primary, some of Mamdani's allies are coalescing around another democratic socialist challenging the incumbent Democratic mayor of Minneapolis. Minnesota State Sen. Omar Fateh has proposed enacting rent stabilization if elected mayor, disciplining and firing local police who work with immigration officers, and increasing access to affordable housing. Fateh on Saturday won the endorsement of the Minneapolis Democrats at a convention that supporters of incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey have challenged, arguing the results were tainted by issues with the voting system. It's a setback for Frey, though one decided by several hundred delegates on the final ballot rather than the larger electorate in November. Still, Fateh's emergence shows democratic socialism is on the upswing well beyond New York City, powered by record-low approval ratings for the Democratic Party and as many elected Democrats face criticism from the party's left flank. 'We are 2-for-2 with socialist mayors of major American cities,' exclaimed Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, a national climate justice group that also endorsed Mamdani, in a video she posted after Fateh's victory. Fateh is the first Somali-American and first Muslim to serve in the Minnesota State Senate. In the state legislature, he has pursued funding free college tuition and securing a statewide living wage for ride-share drivers. He told CNN that he already has more than 1,000 volunteers knocking on doors and making calls. He sees Mamdani's win as proof that progressives can lead with their values and still win. 'I think nationally the Democratic establishment has not done a great job speaking to the needs of working people for far too long,' he said. Frey is a two-term incumbent who led Minneapolis during the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests and unrest following George Floyd's murder by a White police officer. He has positioned himself as a 'pragmatic progressive.' He maintains that under his leadership, he's made important investments in affordable housing like through the Stable Homes, Stable Schools program aimed at getting Minneapolis public school students experiencing homelessness into housing or providing them with housing assistance. 'We have a chance right now to make Minneapolis a national model for how major cities that are run by Democrats can work, how they can deliver for people on everything from affordability to public safety,' Frey told CNN. Frey has alienated some of the city's progressives with the use of his veto power. Last year, he vetoed a council-backed resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, a Minneapolis minimum ride-share pay law and a carbon emission fees ordinance. But he argues the issues are more complicated than they appear on the surface and he had good reason to try to block some of what's come out of the city council. 'Occasionally, you do have to tell people what they don't want to hear when that in fact is the truth. I won't sign on to things like defunding the police or rent control, when those policies have been shown very clearly to not work,' Frey said. Shiney-Ajay told CNN that her group and allies relied on the same sort of grassroots organizing as in New York to deliver Fateh's victory at the Minneapolis convention of what is formally known as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. 'We had a large, organized push towards getting people to go to the ward gatherings and then be able to get elected as delegates,' Shiney-Ajay said. It was the first time in 16 years city Democrats made an endorsement for a mayoral candidate. 'I think this is really a sign of a seismic shift happening in the country right now of young people in particular, just calling for policies that actually improve the lives of everyday people and being sick of the status quo,' Shiney-Ajay added. The endorsement means Fateh will get resources from the state DFL party like volunteers and access to the voter access network, the database that is given to endorsed candidates. Frey noted that he came in second place at the nominating convention in his last two successful runs for mayor. His campaign has challenged the convention results, alleging hundreds of votes were missing or uncounted in mayoral balloting. Local reports suggest the endorsing convention was chaotic, the party's online delegate voting system malfunctioned and at one point, some of Frey's supporters left the arena. Minneapolis DFL Chair John Maraist says while Frey is well within his right to ask the state party for a review, the convention ran in accordance with the rules. 'I think when a lot of people see a vibrant and very participatory discussion, a debate over the rules, they see chaos but really this was very tightly organized,' Maraist told CNN. Just as in New York, a final verdict on the Democrats' intra-party struggle in Minneapolis will come in the fall. Many of Frey's supporters are also shrugging off the impact of the endorsement and believe he will ultimately win a third term. 'I think he's well positioned because both his record and his policy priorities are more closely aligned with the Minneapolis electorate than that of the city council, who is significantly to his left on issues like defunding the police and allowing homeless encampments,' said Jacob Hill, Executive Director of All of Minneapolis, a PAC that endorsed Frey. Hill argues Fateh is too extreme. 'Omar Fateh makes Bernie Sanders look conservative,' he said. Like New York City, Minneapolis has ranked-choice voting, but in the general election rather than the primary. Some of Fateh's supporters are wary of deploying an 'anyone but Frey' strategy in the fall's ranked-choice general election contest, like what was used against Andrew Cuomo in New York, as they say that has not worked against Frey in the past. 'There were challenges to Mayor Frey in 2021 that used a 'don't rank Frey' strategy and that failed monumentally so just using that same terminology is not something we want to do, but there are three viable candidates that are opposing Mayor Frey,' said Chelsea McFarren, chair of Minneapolis for the Many, a progressive political action committee founded in 2023. The group has not yet endorsed a mayoral candidate but would like to see Frey ousted in favor of a more progressive leader.
