One understands that, in the later years of life, the roles of parent and child are often reversed. Age takes a toll. The mother or father who was once the authority figure loses certain capabilities and the son or daughter now becomes the responsible adult.
This is in no way unusual. In fact, one would wager that, in thousands of ways both small and large across the city of Dublin, Ireland, on Wednesday, a responsible child had to step in to help out a cognitively or physically receding parent.
What made one particular instance of this role reversal both unusual and distressing is that 1) the father in question is supposed to be the leader of the free world and 2) the āresponsibleā son involved was one Hunter Biden.
Hunter was taken along by President Joe Biden on his trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland this week, a move that raised eyebrows. Itās a little like if Buckingham Palace had given Prince Andrew significant speaking time during his motherās funeral.
Given what we know about Hunter Bidenās dodgy finances, his refusal to acknowledge a daughter sired out of wedlock, his consumption of illicit substances and his current ācareerā as a not-so-starving-artist, itād be hard to label Hunter the āresponsibleā one here. And yet, when Joe Biden landed in Dublin, Hunter had to step into the role.
President Biden was greeting and answering questions from āembassy staff, children, and fire fighters, at Dublin Airport,ā according to C-SPAN, when he got a question from a youngāun.
Now, since the child wasnāt micāed, itās difficult to hear what heās saying. However, from what I could make out, he appears to be asking: āWhatās the top step to/for success?ā
āWhatās the top stepsā steps to success?ā the president seems to say in response. āWellā making sure that we all donāt have COVID. Why? What are they talking about?ā
And thatās when Hunter had to step in.
āTo success,ā Hunter reiterated to his father. āLike, whatās theā whatās theā whatās the key to success?ā
āOh! Whatās the key to success?ā the president exclaimed, then began shouting: āYou what I found out the key to success is? ⦠The key to success is, whenever you disagree with someone, itās OK to question their judgment, whether theyāre right or wrong. But itās never OK to question their motive.ā
Thereās clearer audio on C-SPANās video, with the relevant portion beginning at 3:45:
šŗ Embedded media ā coming soon
Now, this brought about more than a few jokes in the comments section, as you might imagine:
However, the not-funny part is that this wasnāt the only time that Hunter had to correct his father, as the official White House transcript indicates:
In one instance, he had to set his father straight about whether the late Sen. Jesse Helms was from North or South Carolina. (North.)
In another, he has to remind his father heās āsupposed to do the rope lineā ā slang for when a politician or celebrity walks and shakes hands with those standing behind a roped- or fenced-off barrier.
And this came during the same visit to Ireland where many were questioning whether he thought the Oval Office was in the U.S. Capitol or in the White House:
Now, to be fair, he could have meant it was located in the ācapital,ā as in Washington, D.C. If so, that means he thought the crowd was as far gone as he is ā so not only is he dim, heās insulting, too.
To be fair, this is probably what he meant, given that he said the building was designed by an Irishman. The White House was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, whereas the British-born American Dr. James Thornton is credited with designing the Capitol.
Furthermore, there was this incident where he appeared to brush aside U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak aside as if he didnāt recognize him:
Now, did he not recognize the leader of our closest ally? Itās mere speculation, of course.
However, the fact weāre asking these questions in the first place isnāt a good sign. A worse sign? The fact that the person charged with keeping him in line while he tours the British Isles is Hunter Biden ā a man who says he couldnāt even remember having sex with a woman he fathered a child with.
And Joe Biden wants to be in the Oval Office ā wherever he thinks it is ā until Jan. 20, 2029? Give me a break.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
