Hunter Biden disclosed that his father, former President Joe Biden, was taking the prescription sleep aid Ambien ahead of his widely criticized 2024 debate performance — a revelation that raises new questions about the factors affecting Biden’s appearance on stage that night.
Speaking on a podcast with Delaware Valley host Andrew Callaghan, Hunter defended his father while offering an unfiltered critique of the Democratic Party establishment. He said the 81-year-old former president was under immense strain leading up to the debate, citing an intense travel schedule and the use of Ambien, a sedative-hypnotic commonly prescribed for insomnia.
“I know exactly what happened in that debate,” Hunter said. “He flew around the world… He’s 81 years old. He’s tired as s---. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep. He gets up on the stage. And he looks like he’s a deer in the headlights.”
Hunter said the debate was the latest test imposed by Democratic Party elders to determine if Biden should run for reelection, following what Hunter described as a “make-or-break” 2024 State of the Union address that his father “knock[ed] out of the park.”
He blamed some of former President Barack Obama’s inner circle, including figures associated with the “Pod Save America” podcast, for undermining his father while presenting themselves as party “saviors.”
He also mocked speculation from longtime Democratic strategists like Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, calling them “geniuses” for their political assessments, and dismissed the notion that Biden had been the party’s consensus candidate in 2020.
“Bull----. We lost Iowa. We lost New Hampshire. We came in second in Nevada,” he said, pointing out that Biden’s eventual victory was driven by broad support from both rural and urban voters who rallied behind him in the primaries.
In addition, Hunter defended his art sales, describing painting as a personal refuge and rejecting claims that they were part of an influence-peddling scheme.
He contrasted those accusations with what he alleged are blatant financial dealings by Trump family members, including a planned high-priced membership club in Washington, D.C.