‘I only want what is best,’ Biden publically acknowledges 7th grandchild, Navy | World News
President Joe Biden finally recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter Navy Joan Roberts on Friday, saying that he supports “what is best” for his son Hunter’s child with Lunden Roberts.
Biden, 80, has often claimed he has only six grandchildren and the White House has excluded the daughter of Hunter and Lunden Roberts from Christmas celebrations.
“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,” the 80-year-old President said in a statement 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.”
The 46th US President did not say if he plans to invite his granddaughter to the White House or meet her in person.
Biden has faced growing backlash for ignoring Navy Joan, which contradicts his image as a loving grandfather-in-chief.
“I have six grandchildren,” Biden said at a White House event for children in April.
“I’m crazy about them and I speak to them every single day.”
Neither Hunter nor Joe Biden have met Navy Joan, but she reportedly knows about them and talks about them.
The statement came as Biden visited Maine before heading to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Del.– where he’s expected to spend nine days after avoiding reporter questions for more than a week, including questions about the collapse of son Hunter’s plea deal Wednesday and House Republicans proposing an impeachment inquiry into Biden’s role in shady foreign deals.
The president, who is running for re-election next year, had no public events on Monday or on Wednesday and last answered a reporter’s question on July 18, when he gave a two-word reply in the Oval Office that wasn’t clear to journalists.
Hunter Biden, 53, was proven to be Roberts’ father by a 2019 DNA test, but the first son fought in court to prevent her from taking his last name.
The president’s snub of Roberts was intentional, according to a profile by the New York Times this month.
“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 popular July 8 column 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 flew to Arkansas on a private jet to claim he was poor to reduce his child support payments — convincing his daughter’s mother to accept $5,000 per month instead of $20,000 and to drop her request to change Navy Joan’s surname — in exchange for income from some sales of Hunter’s amateur artworks.
The private jet belonged to Hunter’s friend, Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who also paid off about $2 million in tax debt for Hunter after meeting him at a December 2019 fundraiser.
President Biden didn’t mention his change of heart on Navy Joan during his speech in Maine, where he attacked his Republican opponents for their allegedly rude 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 ridiculed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whom he called “the gentlewoman in Georgia — talk about an oxymoron.”
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The president also attempted to display a more gentle side, saying to his audience, “To all the kids here, I’m going to give you some cash after this event to give to your parents to take you to Dairy Queen after this.”
It’s not known if he kept his word or not.
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