Explore More
WASHINGTON — President Biden publicly acknowledged the existence of his 4-year-old granddaughter Navy Joan Roberts for the first time Friday, saying that he wants “what is best” for his son Hunter’s out-of-wedlock child.
Biden, 80, has repeatedly said he has only six grandchildren and the White House has at Christmastime ignored the daughter of Hunter and Lunden Roberts when hanging stockings.
“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” Biden said in a written statement given to People magazine late Friday afternoon.
“This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter,” Biden said. “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”
Biden did not say if he intends to welcome his granddaughter to the White House or actually meet her in person at some point.
The president has for months faced mounting criticism that his decision to sideline Navy Joan was cruel and contrary to his political persona as a kindly grandfather-in-chief.
“I have six grandchildren,” Biden said at a White House take-your-child-to-work event in April, stoking that criticism. “I’m crazy about them and I speak to them every single day.”
Neither Hunter or Joe Biden have met Navy Joan, though she reportedly is aware of both her father and grandfather and speaks about them.
The statement was issued as Biden visited Maine before heading to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. — where he’s expected to spend nine days after dodging reporter questions for more than a week, including queries about the collapse of son Hunter’s probation-only plea deal Wednesday and House Republicans floating an impeachment inquiry into Biden’s role in shady foreign dealings.
The president, who is running for a second four-year term next year, had no public events on Monday or on Wednesday and most recently answered a reporter’s question on July 18, when he gave a two-word reply in the Oval Office that wasn’t immediately audible to journalists.
Hunter Biden, now 53, was confirmed as Roberts’ father by a 2019 paternity test, but the first son successfully fought in court to prevent her from taking his last name.
The president’s decision to snub Roberts was deliberate, according to a profile published this month by the New York Times.
“In strategy meetings in recent years, aides have been told that the Bidens have six, not seven, grandchildren, according to two people familiar with the discussions,” the Times reported.
Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote in a widely circulated July 8 polemic that “[w]hat the Navy story reveals is how dated and inauthentic the 80-year-old president’s view of family is.”
“The president’s cold shoulder — and heart — is counter to every message he has sent for decades, and it’s out of sync with the America he wants to continue to lead,” Dowd wrote.
The first son in May took a private jet to Arkansas to plead poverty to lower his child support payments — ultimately persuading his daughter’s mother to accept $5,000 per month instead of $20,000 and to drop her bid to change Navy Joan’s surname — in exchange for income from an unspecified number of sales of Hunter’s novice artworks.
The private jet belonged to Hunter’s benefactor, Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who also paid off about $2 million in tax debt on Hunter’s behalf after meeting him at a December 2019 fundraiser.
President Biden didn’t mention his pivot on Navy Joan during his remarks in Maine, where at a fundraiser he instead jabbed at his Republican adversaries for their allegedly uncivil behavior.
Biden mocked former President Donald Trump as a “classy guy” for skipping his 2021 inauguration — adding, “I was just as happy he didn’t” — and then ridiculing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whom he called “the gentlewoman in Georgia — talk about an oxymoron.”
The president tried to show a softer side as well, telling his audience: “To all the kids here, I’m going to give you some money after this event to give to your parents to have them take you to Dairy Queen after this.”
It’s unclear if he followed through with the promise.
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3R7j3Bma3Bfl7alsc1mp66anJ6wrcWMq5ycp5ejtrux0mZuraBdnL%2BiusOkoJ1lnpbDunnFqKlmrJiaeqe10ayrZqyZorJw