The Truth About Hunter Biden's Children
Hunter Biden hasn't exactly been the most scandal-free first son the nation has ever seen. Often referred to as the "black sheep" of the Biden family by various media outlets (like Vox, for example), he has made his fair share of headlines. His involvement with a Ukrainian oil company put him front and center during the Donald Trump impeachment trial. Though the GOP accusations were grounded in conspiracy theories and were ultimately proven to be false, this scrutiny shone a spotlight on Joe Biden's son that has never fully dimmed. He's been open and honest about his past drug addiction and has used the opportunity to share the story of his personal struggles to tell truths about recovery and the importance of undying familial support.
His children, particularly his daughters, have proven to be intelligent, fashionable, and politically-minded young women. From viral social media posts to school protests, the Biden grandchildren bring a much-needed spark of youthful energy to the White House, where their grandfather is "the oldest president to take oath," per The New York Times. Let's take a closer look at the individuals who call President Joe Biden their "Pop."
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Naomi Biden isn't afraid to defend her family
Hunter Biden's oldest child, Naomi Biden, seems to have the most dominant internet presence of all his children and has repeatedly used that clout to publicly come to the defense of her family.
When republicans in the Senate initiated an investigation accusing her father and grandfather of "corruption" concerning dealings with Ukraine (via The New York Times) — an investigation that inevitably found no "wrongdoing" — Naomi leapt to her dad's defense on Twitter. Her tweets offered what she claimed to be, "The truth of a man filled with love, integrity, and human struggles," in a series of 280-character snippets. She also noted that her thread was "free of charge to the taxpayers and free of the corrosive influence of power-at-all-costs politics," unlike the republican report.
Her fearlessness when it comes to defending her family was also demonstrated when she snapped back at notorious Fox News fibber Tucker Carlson (via PolitiFact) on Twitter in 2021, after Carlson mocked her grandparents' 44-year marriage by sarcastically saying their relationship "is in no way a slick PR campaign devised by cynical consultants ... no, not at all! Their love is as real as climate change!" In case you couldn't read the intentions, Carlson has often attempted to convince his viewers that climate change isn't real and consequently accused Joe and Jill Biden's marriage of being a sham. Naomi's response was simply: "Someone give this man a hug." A classy burn to a rather rude accusation.
Maisy Biden is close friends with Sasha Obama
Maisy Biden is the youngest of Hunter Biden's daughters with his first wife, Kathleen Buhle. And as Joe Biden revealed to a crowd in Iowa in 2019 (via The Hill), his granddaughter's bestie is a familiar face — none other than former President Barack Obama's youngest kiddo, Sasha Obama. Maisy and Sasha grew up together, attending the same school and playing on the same fourth-grade basketball team coached by the then-POTUS himself.
You may remember how a video of Barack making a three-pointer on the campaign trail for Joe went viral in 2020, but you may have missed who passed him the ball. During an appearance on Dax Shephard's "Armchair Expert" podcast the following July, Barack told the actor, "The best part of that shot was, if you go back and you look at the video, there's a young woman in a mask who's under the basket and she's the one who gave me the pass. That is Joe Biden's granddaughter, Maisy Biden, who was one of Sasha's best friends — and still is — growing up." Of previously coaching their basketball team to victory, he went on to proudly say, "Maisy was like the LeBron of the league. She dominated. She was great, you know, and we went undefeated. The Vipers ruled."
When they graduated high school in 2019, the Obamas and Bidens aptly celebrated together. "Barack and Jill and the whole family, we had a whole get together," Joe explained, as The Hill reported.
They've taken a lot of advice from the Obama daughters
While the pairing of Barack Obama and Joe Biden as running mates originally seemed like a decision calculated to appeal to a wider audience, the two men became close friends over the course of their 8 years together in the White House. Obama has even told Biden, "You are my brother," per The New York Times. Naturally, the two families also became close, including the younger generations.
Public life as a member of the first family is undoubtedly a tricky thing to maneuver, especially if you're only a kid. But the young members of the Biden clan weren't alone in figuring it out. Luckily, they had Malia and Sasha Obama, the daughters of former President Obama, as guides. As previously mentioned, the girls spent their childhoods together, which included highlights like a Democratic National Convention hotel sleepover. And Hunter Biden's daughters have collectively discussed the influence Barack and Michelle Obama's children had on them.
In a 2021 interview with "Today," middle daughter Finnegan Biden explained how she and her sisters look up to the Obamas' daughters and have taken cues from them on how to handle the spotlight gracefully. "Maisy and I and Natalie and Naomi have had the privilege of being able to see two of our friends ... navigate eight years of what was really difficult, and they did so, so beautifully," she said. "And they came out so grounded and humble, and they're so smart and driven, so I think we can only take advice from them."
Hunter Biden's eldest daughter was classmates with a Trump
One thing you might never expect to see: a Trump and a Biden partying together. However, there is photographic evidence that this very thing did happen once upon a time. In 2018, the then-first daughter, Tiffany Trump, posted a photo of herself cozying up to Naomi Biden on her Instagram Stories, per Yahoo! Lifestyle. The black-and-white photo showed the two ladies hanging out, Naomi with a drink in hand. Tiffany tagged the former vice president's granddaughter and added a graphic of two hearts intertwined. By the looks of Tiffany's friend Andrew Warren's Instagram, they were all hanging at The Surf Lodge in Montauk, New York.
Once there might have been a time when no one would bat an eye at prominent political families rubbing shoulders regardless of their party affiliations. But the 2016 election (and Donald Trump in general) made everything a little tense (to say the least). The divide that became more and more evident during Trump's presidency, and exploded after the 2020 election, had already begun to seep into the American consciousness in 2018. Needless to say, the internet was a little confused when they saw the photo of the daughters from what many perceived to be rival families hanging out.
But the mystery unravels once you know they are both the same age and graduated together from University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Even if they're not BFFs, these two seemingly have a few friends in common.
Finnegan Biden was an academic activist
Finnegan Biden might just be another Biden politician in the making. Named after her great-grandmother, Finnegan has played an active role in changing school policies, both in high school and in college, and is a "staunch feminist," according to The U.S. Sun.
In a 2020 interview with 34th Street, a publication by the University of Pennsylvania (where she was attending school), Hunter Biden's middle daughter discussed her involvement in driving change within the school after she started a petition to extend grading deadlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, having noticed that some of her fellow students were struggling with at-home learning. "I was talking with a lot of my friends. They were expressing this sincere anxiety about the pass/fail deadline ... being in a different time zone, and not knowing if their families are going to get sick," she told the publication. The petition was successful, and the deadlines in question were extended, as requested.
And this wasn't the first time the young Biden was involved in changing a school's policy. In high school, Finnegan also successfully worked to change her school's dress code that she and many of her classmates found unfair. Her success at achieving intended goals is promising for a possible political future.
Hunter Biden's youngest daughter is a visual artist
Maisy Biden considers herself an artist and has an Instagram account devoted to her visual creations, where she posts sketches, drawings, paintings, collage work, and even sewing projects she has created, as well as photographs she has taken. According to Artnet, and by the looks of the social media account, she studies art at the University of Pennsylvania, where both her older sisters went, as well.
Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, considering her father is also a painter and prides himself on utilizing artistic outlets for healing. Hunter Biden told The New York Times in 2020 that making art "is literally keeping me sane," adding, "The one thing I have left is my art. It's the one thing they can't take away from me or conflate with anything else." He has since shown his work in New York's George Bergès Gallery, where he was photographed arriving appropriately accompanied by his art-enthusiast daughter, Maisy, at the opening night of the exhibition. The two even share what she calls "father daughter doodles," per her TikTok.
They talk to their presidential grandfather 'every day'
The Bidens are a very close family — so close that Hunter Biden's children apparently talk to their grandfather every single day, even if it's just a quick text. In a 2020 tweet, Joe Biden even stated, "I've had a rule my entire life: No matter what's happening, no matter how important the meeting, I'll always answer a call from my grandchildren."
In a joint interview with "PBS NewsHour," Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy Biden all agreed that they're in constant contact with their presidential grandfather. "I don't necessarily pick up every day, but I have a lot of voicemails," Finnegan said, while Naomi added, "He will pick up our calls no matter where he is. He'd be like on stage giving a speech, and we'd call him, and he'd be like, 'What's wrong? Is everything good?'"
Hunter Biden also confirmed that his father calls him every day, as well, on "CBS Sunday Morning" in 2021: "We talk at least every night. By the way, not only does he talk to me every night, he calls every one of my daughters. He talks to each one of them every day, and he talks to me, and I know he talks to my sister. ... He's always done that." Tearful, the "Beautiful Things" author explained that his dad believes talking to family every day is so important because, after losing his first wife and two children, the president "knows what it's like not to be able to pick up the phone and talk" to loved ones.
Hunter Biden's daughters don't shy away from a fashion statement
The Biden and Harris families have proven to be fashionable first and second families. Kamala Harris' stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, is literally walking the runways nowadays. But Emhoff isn't the only fashion-savvy one in the bunch. Hunter Biden's daughters have also received media attention for their contemporary fashion choices.
At their grandfather's inauguration, they strategically wore fashionable monochromatic looks. Not only was Naomi Biden's all-white look an "homage to suffragettes," according to Women's Wear Daily, but sister Maisy Biden paired her menswear-inspired dark-colored look with Nike Air Jordans called "sisterhood." According to Nike's website, the shoes "pay homage to sisterhood and the intertwined concepts of strength and beauty" and include details that are a "tribute to female unity." After Maisy was spotted wearing them, the sneakers reached new levels of popularity, with StockX tweeting, "Trades of the Jordan 1 Mid 'Sisterhood' worn by Maisy Biden more than doubled in the last 24 hours, and new bids on this sneaker are up 200%."
Later that same evening, Maisy wore a flowy dress with red hearts and flowers by Rodarte, and she made the bold choice to offset the femininity of the dress with a different pair of high-top Nikes, a look that was applauded by several fashion critics and Twitter fans. Maisy also got noticed for her clothing when she donned a t-shirt with a picture of her grandfather when he was a young man. Yes, THAT Joe Biden photo, the one that became an internet sensation.
Naomi Biden co-created a handy internet tool
If you think back to the early days of the pandemic (we know, it seems like a lifetime ago) back to April of 2020, you might remember the government was rolling out the CARES Act, otherwise known as the stimulus plan. However, who was eligible and who qualified for what was a little confusing. And you'll be hard-pressed to find an average American citizen willing to sit down and read the 365-page act, let alone make any sense of it. But Naomi Biden, along with her partner (now-fiancé), Peter Neal, came up with an idea to help people out. As law students, they put their knowledge to good use when they decided to create a tool to aid individuals in better understanding the stimulus package.
They read every word of the act and compressed it into a more understandable tool. Working almost 50 hours straight with little sleep, they built a website that would help people determine their eligibility and calculate the amount of money they qualified for — a tool that was "designed more intuitively than the Internal Revenue Service's broad FAQ site," according to MTV News.
Naomi explained to the outlet, "Even though it was basically the exact same [as the law school work] we were procrastinating doing, it was a different and new and fun experience because it would actually be helping people." She added, "It was either that or watch 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' for the third time in a row."
Hunter Biden's youngest daughter is active on TikTok
After years of witnessing the Trumps use social media to spread false information and overall general bad vibes, it's refreshing to see younger members of the new White House clan use social media for other purposes. While Naomi Biden has a fairly large social media presence on Twitter and Instagram, she's left TikTok to her Gen Z sister, Maisy Biden.
Otherwise known as her handle @scoobeydoobey, Hunter Biden's youngest daughter has over 184,000 followers on the popular video-sharing platform, accumulating over 3 million likes. Like many people her age, her TikTok account features dance numbers and lipsyncs, but she's also dabbled in using the platform to celebrate her family's successes. Her most viral TikTok is from the day her grandfather was elected president in 2020. The clip shows her wearing a t-shirt with a photo of Joe Biden that says, "The Vice President," and crossing out the "vice" part with a sharpie as the song "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" by The Belmonts plays. It's captioned, "Hey hey hey goodbye Trump." The video has 2 million views, at the time of this writing.
Maisy's reach has extended beyond TikTok, however, like when she appeared on Olivia Rodrigo's Instagram prior to the 2020 election to discuss the importance of voting and to assure everyone that her Pop would listen to scientists when it comes to climate change and other issues. "The most important thing that people should keep in mind," Maisy said, "is that my grandfather believes in science and he's going to follow the science."
He named his son after his late brother
Hunter Biden has often discussed how his life took a dark turn after his brother, Beau Biden, died in 2015 of brain cancer complications, per NPR. Hunter and Beau were survivors of the car accident that killed their mother and sister in 1972, and this shared trauma surely brought the brothers and the entire family closer together.
In 2017, Hunter Biden and his first wife, Kathleen Buhle (mother to Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy Biden) divorced — reportedly spurned by Hunter began having an affair with Hallie Biden, his brother's widow. When it was confirmed that Hunter and Hallie were officially dating, tabloids had a field day spinning the story as a scandal. "To me, it's not something that is difficult to explain, because it came out of a real overwhelming grief that we both shared," Hunter later explained in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning," adding, "And that grief turned into a hope for a love that maybe could replace what we lost."
While the couple split in 2019, Hunter married Melissa Cohen, a documentary filmmaker from South Africa, that same year, per The U.S. Sun. They had dated for less than a week before getting hitched, but as Hunter told ABC News, "I instantly fell in love with her. And then I've fallen in love with her more every day." Cohen and Biden now have one child together, a son that they named Beau to honor his late brother. Their baby even made a public appearance at the election celebrations on November 7, 2020, as well as at Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021.
Hunter Biden also fathered a child 'out of wedlock'
Though the Bidens do not discuss this particular child in public, a DNA test confirmed that Hunter Biden did indeed father a child with a woman named Lunden Roberts, who allegedly worked at an exotic dance club in Washington, D.C., where "he frequented," according to Page Six. When Roberts sued Biden for child support in 2019, he denied having "sexual relations" with her, per The New Yorker. However, he did eventually agree to a paternity test, which suggested otherwise.
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported the DNA test had proven he was the father "with scientific certainty." According to official documents, Hunter was "not expected to challenge the results of the DNA test." He then "agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of monthly child support to an Arkansas woman who bore him a baby out of wedlock," CNBC reported.
The child was reportedly born in 2018. Roberts allegedly named the child Navy Joan and is choosing to raise her daughter in Arkansas, where she is from (via the Daily Mail). As of this writing, it is unclear if the Biden family has any contact with Roberts and the child.