Hunter Biden has told friends he may have to flee the country if Donald Trump is re-elected, after already enduring months of deeply personal political attacks and mounting legal troubles.
Republicans have put him at the center of their efforts to say his father acted corruptly when he was vice president.
And he faces nearly 20 years in prison if convicted last week of three felonies and six felonies.
The result is an 81-year-old father desperately concerned for the well-being of a son who has battled drink and drugs, and a son who fears more attacks if Trump wins in 2024.
Two sources quoted by Politico say Hunter has told family friends he expects to come under intense scrutiny during the election campaign and is considering leaving the United States if his father loses the election to the Republican front-runner.
Hunter Biden took the fight to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, accusing Republicans of having “no shame.” He has told friends he may have to leave the country if Donald Trump wins next year
He recently made his concerns public.
“What they're trying to do is they're trying to kill me, knowing it will be a pain greater than my father can bear – and thus destroying a presidency in that way,” he told the musician Moby. during a podcast.
Trump has repeatedly teased Hunter, and reports indicate he would install a much harder-line administration if re-elected, staffed by ultra-loyalists willing to flout legal and constitutional norms.
Meanwhile, confidantes of the president say Biden is desperately worried that his son will become addicted again under the pressure.
“You can see it in his eyes, and you can see his shoulders slumped,” said one. “He's so worried about Hunter. And we're afraid it could consume him.”
Biden is in daily contact with his son and has built a support network to help, according to the news outlet, which spoke to a range of insiders.
'I know when it hurts. He doesn't talk about it much, most of us don't,” former Senator Chris Dodd, who has been close to Biden for more than 40 years, told the newspaper.
“He has real human decency, and a lot of it comes from scars. And he's worried.'
Wednesday brought another day full of drama.
Republicans had set a deadline for the younger Biden to testify behind closed doors about his business affairs. But Hunter said he would only give his testimony in public and made a rare public speech condemning their investigation, which he said was based on “distortions, manipulated evidence and lies.”
Donald Trump was holding a rally in Iowa on Wednesday night when he lashed out at Hunter Biden's actions on Capitol Hill. “He went to the wrong place,” the former president said. 'He went to the Senate instead of the House of Representatives'
Confidants say they worry about President Joe Biden and the toll of the nonstop Republican attacks on his son Hunter
Republicans have been trying for months to find evidence linking the president to his son's international business dealings. So far they have fallen short
“They took the light of my father's love for me and did their best to turn it into darkness,” he said. “They have no shame.”
The White House declined to get involved in the fight, except to emphasize the president's love for his son.
“And I think what you saw came from the heart of his son, and you heard… I heard this said, you heard the president say this, when it comes to the president, the first lady, they are I am proud of him and will continue to rebuild his life,” said press officer Karine Jean-Pierre.
But she also revealed that the president was “familiar” with what his son was going to say that morning, in reference to their close communication.
Biden checks in with his son as part of his daily routine. And Hunter is a regular visitor to Camp David, the family home in Delaware and the White House.
Insiders say that reflects the president's impulse to bring Hunter closer to the family, even if it gives his critics a line of attack.
Aides stopped questioning the approach, the report said, after the president disagreed with anyone who questioned whether Hunter was an electoral liability.
For example, no one asked whether it was a good idea to have a son prosecuted at the state dinner for the Indian prime minister in June.