Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden’s controversial son, was reportedly furious at former President Barack Obama for taking his father’s hand while leading him off the stage at a campaign fundraiser in June 2024, a new book reveals.
The bombshell insider look comes from ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl’s new book “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America.” The snippet discussed by Hunter Biden went viral on social media, with many saying it showed the then-president’s physical and cognitive decline.
“I almost jumped up on the stage and said, ‘Don’t ever f—king do that to the president of the United States again— ever,” the younger Biden, still furious, told Karl in an interview, according to an exclusive report from Axios.
For Hunter, the awkward moment came prematurely, as he insists that his dad was simply taking the time to acknowledge the crowd.
“I knew that that was going to be a meme,” Hunter recalled. “That really, really, really, really pissed me off.”
“I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced,” Clooney wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times.
“But one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big f—ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” he added, making reference to a disastrous presidential debate against now-President Donald Trump that kick-started calls for him to drop out of the contest.
Clooney’s comments also angered the younger Biden, who reacted in an expletive-laden interview months later. Last year, Hunter was convicted on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to nine tax-related charges, including three felonies. However, he was pardoned by his father in the last hours of his presidency, a decision that sparked controversy.
“F— him. F— him. F— him and everybody around him,” the younger Biden said during an interview on YouTube personality Andrew Callaghan’s web series “Channel 5,” about Clooney’s op-ed.
“I don’t have to be f—ing nice,” he continued. “No. 1, I agree with Quentin Tarantino… F—ing George Clooney is not a f—ing actor. He is a f—ing, like… I don’t know what he is. He is a brand.”
Other videos that went viral at the time showed former President Biden being redirected or led on by those around him. In one video, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni walked over to the president, touched his right arm, and redirected him back to a group of world leaders meeting in Italy for a G7 event.