Hunter Biden Says ‘Of Course’ He Made His Father’s Life and Health Worse

Screenshot via @BBCNewsnight on X

Hunter Biden admitted that his battle with addiction “of course” made former President Joe Biden’s health and quality of life “worse” during an interview posted Friday on BBC Newsnight.

Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race less than four months before Election Day amid mounting concerns about his age and fitness for office. In May of 2025, his personal office revealed he’d been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer.

The BBC’s Paddy O’Connell asked the former first son if he believed that his own “fall” made “life worse and the health worse for Joe Biden,” noting, “He must have feared he was going to lose another son.”

The younger Biden’s struggles with crack cocaine have long been documented, with his 2021 memoir Beautiful Things going into the most detail. And in 2015, Biden’s other son, Beau Biden, passed away at the age of 46 after a battle with brain cancer.

“Of course I did,” Hunter responded. “That’s what addiction does. You know, I dig that most people would sit here and try to run from that question or be offended by it, but absolutely.”

He continued:

Not just to my dad, but to my mom [former First Lady Jill Biden] and my aunts and uncles, to my children, to my relationships down the line. But, in particular, to my dad, who never let go, and even through that, even with the knowledge of that, he never, ever, ever let me go. He always left the door open, and I always say to people that unconditional love doesn’t mean love without consequences. It doesn’t mean love without accountability.

My dad never let me off the hook, but what my dad did was always make it clear that when I was ready to come back, the door was open, and that he loved me just as much no matter what. And that is, uh, that is the singular thing that saved me — that the door was left open. A lot of people always say that you’ve got to let an addict hit rock-bottom. Well, the addicts that I know that hit rock-bottom are either dead or in jail, and what my dad did when I fell down this well of despair is he shined a light down and helped guide me out. And that’s a beautiful thing, but it’s not without its cost. And the cost is that it never goes away — that stress.

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