An NBC report on Wednesday walked readers through the process of President Biden finally referencing his seventh grandchild via alleged sources close to the matter.
In what was described by conservatives as a "Friday night news dump," Biden released a statement to People magazine acknowledging his 4-year-old granddaughter, Navy Joan Roberts, who his son Hunter Biden had with ex-stripper Lunden Roberts.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward. This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," he added. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
According to NBC’s sources, this recent development came following counsel and approval from Hunter.
"But before he could do so, he wanted to take one final step: getting the ‘green light’ from his son, which he received last week, one source said," the report read.
It continued, "Biden largely followed his son's guidance in keeping quiet as the legal case unfolded, sources familiar with the matter said. With the dispute reaching a settlement, the president wanted to speak out and his son agreed he should do so, a source said, in part because, he told his father, it would help negate a Republican line of attack."
The NBC reported in response that "Republicans hope to turn what had long been a potent Biden asset into a vulnerability. Invoking his reticence about his youngest granddaughter, Biden's Republican opponents are painting him as a hypocrite."
Despite anticipating this attack since the 2020 election, Biden aides, the source claimed, never "thought out fully" how to handle the controversy surrounding his grandchild.
"They considered a response and decided then that they would say Biden had only six grandchildren and leave it at that," NBC summarized.
Following the election, however, the sources claimed that New York Time columnist Maureen Dowd’s article on the subject also "weighed on him." The July column, "It’s Seven Grandkids, Mr. President," criticized Biden, sayinghe "can’t defend Hunter on all his other messes and draw the line at accepting one little girl."
"Joe Biden’s mantra has always been that ‘the absolute most important thing is your family.’ It is the heart of his political narrative. Empathy, born of family tragedies, has been his stock in trade. Callously scarring Navy’s life, just as it gets started, undercuts that," Dowd wrote.
Biden also acknowledged his seventh grandchild on the Jay Shatty Podcast Monday saying, "I have seven grandkids; five of them are old enough to talk on the phone. Every day, I either text them or call them."
The NBC report concluded that while Biden’s family will likely be a factor in the 2024 election, the White House will bank on Americans sympathizing with the "complicated" dynamics.
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"In the end, the White House hopes that Americans can sympathize with complicated family dynamics that may seem familiar from their own lived experiences. Campaign aides predict the election will hinge on the president’s record and the choice voters face in the general election — not a son’s offspring," it read.
The White House did not respond for a comment.
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