In a fiery and emotional interview, Hunter Biden made headlines Monday with a passionate defense of his father, Joe Biden, and a scathing takedown of Democratic strategists and media figures. The nearly three-hour podcast appearance was described as a “meltdown” by political commentators and featured a striking revelation about the president’s mental state during his disastrous debate against Donald Trump.
CNN’s Jake Tapper hosted Axios journalist Alex Thompson on The Lead to analyze Hunter Biden’s remarks. Thompson, who co-authored a book on President Biden’s political career and mental fitness, called one of Hunter’s admissions “the most striking” detail from the entire segment.
“Hunter made headlines of his own in a more than three-hour-long interview on a podcast, touching on a number of issues, including the 2024 campaign. He vehemently defended his father while revealing a new detail about the debate,” Tapper said.
In the podcast, Hunter Biden shared what he claimed happened in the lead-up to his father’s poor debate performance. “He flew around the world basically, and the mileage, he could have flown around the world three times. He’s 81 years old. He’s tired as s—. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep.
He gets up on the stage, and he looks like he’s a deer in the headlights,” Hunter Biden said. Reacting to the revelation, Thompson emphasized the weight of the Ambien claim. “The fact that we did not know that the President of the United States was on Ambien… I would also imagine it is very difficult to do the proverbial ‘3 a.m. phone call’ crisis when you are on Ambien in the middle of the night. I think it’s really striking,” he said.
Although the president’s physician has not confirmed the use of the sleeping aid, Thompson noted that Hunter’s account offers “a telling new detail about the president’s abilities at the time.” Hunter’s frustrations extended beyond the debate. In another segment, he launched into a profanity-laced tirade aimed at high-profile Democratic strategists, including James Carville and David Axelrod.
“James Carville, who hasn’t run a race in 40 f—ing years. And David Axelrod, who had one success in his political life, and that was Barack Obama… not because of f—ing David Axelrod,” Hunter said. He also blasted figures like Anita Dunn, calling out her political earnings and questioning her influence on his father’s career.
Thompson highlighted this attack as especially notable: “The most striking thing is that he attacked Anita Dunn… she was driven out because of this rift with Hunter Biden.” Democratic strategist Karen Finney added, “Hunter is clearly establishing himself as the carrier of the family’s grievances.”