Hunter Biden reflected on how political opponents used his struggles with addiction to criticize his father, Joe Biden, and argued that those attacks ultimately had the opposite effect. During an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Hunter revisited an emotional late-night voicemail from his father that conservative media figures had previously highlighted.
Hunter Biden revisits Joe Biden’s emotional voicemail and disputes Republican criticism of his father’s support
Hunter discussed a voicemail Joe left him at around 2 a.m. during a difficult period in his addiction. “Honey, I just don’t know what to do… I love you more than the world; I’ll do anything. Just tell me what to do,” Joe said in the message.
Hunter said figures, including Sean Hannity, repeatedly played the recording while criticizing the former president. According to Hunter, critics tried to portray the voicemail as evidence of a “weak man with the weak son” and characterize his father’s support as enabling behavior.
As per OK! Hunter argued that the criticism instead showed people how much his father cared about a son struggling with addiction. “I mean the things that they wanted [to] show, Joe Biden as kind of the weak man with the weak [son who’s suffered] from addiction, and it had the exact opposite impact,” he said.
Hunter compared the reaction to an exchange between Joe and Donald Trump during a 2020 presidential debate. He recalled Trump bringing up his addiction before Joe publicly defended his recovery. “My dad said, ‘I’m proud of my son. My son is in recovery. I’m proud of him,’” Hunter said.
He argued that many viewers could relate to having someone in their lives who had struggled with addiction. Hunter also used the podcast appearance to discuss his father’s approach to personal hardship. He said he had spent his life watching Joe endure tragedy while continuing to support other people.
“For my entire life, I’ve looked up to my dad in awe,” Hunter said. He described his father’s “unconditional love” as a defining quality in both his personal life and political career. His comments framed the Biden emotional voicemail as an example of parental support rather than the political weakness that he said Republican critics attempted to portray.
