EXCLUSIVE: Lunden Roberts writes for DailyMail: What the mother of Hunter Biden’s 5-year-old daughter REALLY thinks about their fling, his recovery from the depths of addiction and whether he can be a real dad to Navy Joan

Lunden Roberts sued Hunter Biden for child support after revealing in 2019 that she had an affair with the president’s son in late 2017 that resulted in the birth of her daughter Navy Joan.

The president’s son, 53, refused to accept that the adorable little girl from Batesville, Arkansas, was his until the court demanded a DNA test that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was her father.

Hunter eventually agreed to pay Roberts, a former employee at his Rosemont Seneca consulting firm, $20,000 a month in child support, but neither he nor Joe Biden would publicly acknowledge that the child was his.

In September last year, Hunter asked a judge to reduce his benefits due to a “substantial” drop in his income. Roberts, 32, demanded evidence and asked the court to change Navy Joan’s last name to Biden as the long-dormant case went to trial.

However, it ended with an unexpected settlement, when the couple had private conversations in June and agreed that the well-being of their now five-year-old daughter had to come first.

DailyMail.com revealed how the two reached a deal where young artist Hunter would pay less child support, but give Navy Joan a selection of his paintings and commit to building a relationship with the fourth of his five children.

Weeks later, the president released a statement acknowledging for the first time that Navy Joan was his granddaughter.

In a surprising turn of events, Roberts is now speaking out in support of Hunter, praising his recovery from addiction and asking for privacy as the First Son finally gets to know their daughter.

Here, Roberts explains why she believes Hunter deserves support and understanding in his battle with addiction — and why she’s never written him off as a lousy father.

Over the past few years, reporters have asked me about Hunter Biden, the father of my five-year-old daughter, Navy Joan.

I didn’t respond to them because I know what kind of headlines they are looking for. Plus, they already think they know a big part of the story.

Now that I’ve gone to court with Hunter in a highly publicized child support case, I’m probably the last person you’d expect to defend him.

And yet that is exactly why I decided to speak out.

The world knows all about Hunter’s addiction problems, especially since Hunter himself has been so outspoken about it.

Yes, he has lived a privileged life, but Hunter has also been in the public eye with political opponents seizing on his mistakes and using his addiction against him.

To be honest, I’ve had a taste of that myself, but the hurtful things written about me are nothing compared to how Hunter has been portrayed.

Soon, Navy Joan will be old enough to search the Internet for the countless newspaper articles devoted to her father’s transgressions, and I can’t fathom how she feels.

I don’t feel like adding anything to that. What kind of mother would want to add more fuel to this fire?

I’ve seen what addiction can do to people and I think it’s cruel that Hunter has to recover with a target on his back.

I never wrote him off as a ‘deadbeat dad’ because I know Hunter, I’ve seen the kind of person he is and the love he has for his children and people in general.

I remember one time watching him take off his Tom Ford jacket to hug a homeless boy on the street because it was snowing, then walk back out in the cold in a T-shirt.

One thing’s for sure: Navy Joan is so proud of Hunter, not because he’s a Biden, but because he’s her father.

And I’m proud of him too. Hunter has had the courage to admit his mistakes and learn from them. That is a valuable lesson that every parent can teach their child. His honesty brings much-needed awareness that addiction is a disease that requires understanding and compassion.

And as Hunter said in his recent op-ed for USA Today, we all know someone who has suffered and needed our help, whether it was a spouse, child or friend.

As someone who has been fortunate enough to have the unwavering support of an incredible father throughout my life, I know that Navy Joan deserves the same opportunity.

Navy Joan is my greatest blessing. She is the most beautiful and loving daughter and her big blue eyes are my whole world.

She will tell you ‘I love you’ just when you need those words most. She has a big heart, just like her father.

Naturally, she adores her father and loves his colorful artwork. More importantly, she loves the bond they create.

I ask that people respect their privacy so that this precious bond can continue to flourish. There will be people who say: can this woman be real? These people have never been in my shoes.

They have never met my daughter and have not thought for a second about what is best for her.

But that’s exactly what Hunter and I did last summer. We put our differences aside and came together for the sake of our adorable little girl.

That’s why I 100 percent support Hunter’s recovery and his determination to become the loving father figure that all five of his children deserve.