The first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, on Thursday described as “cruel” the campaign of the Republican opposition against Hunter Biden, son of the American president and favored target of conservatives in this election year.
“I think what they are doing to Hunter is cruel,” she said in an interview with MSNBC.
She was questioned the day after a parliamentary hearing devoted to Hunter Biden, which turned into a free-for-all when the fifty-year-old made a brief surprise appearance.
Struggling with the law, notably for tax fraud, Hunter Biden, whose past is strewn with addictions, is accused by Republicans of having made dubious deals in Ukraine and China by banking on his father’s networks and name .
On Wednesday, two right-wing-dominated congressional committees recommended that he be convicted of obstructing Congress’ investigative powers for refusing to participate in a closed-door hearing on his overseas financial interests. He demands a public hearing.
During one of the hearings, Republican elected officials strongly attacked him, one calling him “cowardly” and showing scabrous photos of him, the other affirming that he was “the incarnation of privilege white”.
Jill Biden defended him Thursday.
AFP
“I’m really proud of how Hunter has rebuilt his life after his addiction. I love my son and this has hurt my grandchildren. That’s what worries me so much, that this is also affecting their lives,” she said.
Jill Biden says she considers Hunter, born from Joe Biden’s first marriage, as her own son.
This first union of the American president had a tragic end: his wife died in 1972 in a car accident with the couple’s baby daughter. Hunter and his older brother Beau – who died of cancer in 2015 – were injured.
