In a heated climate in which the two contenders for the White House are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, it often seems as though Joe Biden and Donald Trump have almost nothing in common.
But the conviction of the US president’s son, Hunter Biden, for lying about his drug use to purchase a gun highlights one area where the two men occupy a sliver of shared ground: both have dealt with family members suffering from addiction.
The current occupant of the White House and his predecessor — and possibly successor — are also both teetotal, with Biden once telling reporters: “There are enough alcoholics in my family.”
Biden has previously cited a hard-drinking uncle for his abstinence, and it was Hunter’s widely documented use of alcohol and crack cocaine after the death from brain cancer in 2015 of his brother, Beau, that ultimately led to the three charges on which he was convicted.
Trump, meanwhile, has spoken about his brother Fred Jr’s alcoholism, telling The Washington Post in August 2019 that he regretted putting pressure on him to join the family company rather than pursue his dream of being a pilot.
As Fred struggled to find success either in the family real estate empire or in his own business endeavours, his drinking escalated. He did train as a pilot, with Trans World Airlines, but that career was short-lived and his father belittled him for it. His marriage failed and he was repeatedly hospitalised, eventually dying at the age of 42 from a heart attack related to alcoholism.
During his presidency, Trump drew on those personal experiences when launching policies to try to tackle the country’s opioid crisis. “I don’t know that I’d be working, devoting the kind of time and energy and even the money we are allocating to [the opioid crisis] had I not had the experience with Fred,” he said.
Asked on Fox News last Wednesday about Hunter’s trial, Trump started to speak about Fred instead. “I had a brother who suffered tremendously from alcoholism and alcohol,” he said. “And it was a terrible thing to watch. He was an incredible guy with the best personality. He was the best-looking person you have ever seen. Everything was perfect. But he had an addiction.”
After the verdict on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign appeared to be struggling with its message, with an initial statement saying the trial had “been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden crime family” and ending with the sentence: “As for Hunter, we wish him well in his recovery and legal affairs.”
In a later statement, however, the same wording was used but the reference to wishing Hunter well had been removed.
Political analysts were wary to read too much into the parallels between the two presidents, however. Peter Loge, associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, sensed political rather than personal motives for Trump’s reticence.
“It’s hard to go after someone’s family when that family is so troubled. I think the voters would react negatively,” he told The Times. “[Biden] is doing what we like to imagine we would do in a similar situation, which is be sad and concerned for our son, but not question the entire system because a troubled loved one made some bad choices, and I think that if Trump went after that, it would look really bad.”
Nearly 17 per cent of Americans have had a substance use disorder in the past year, according to the American Addiction Centers, with few lives untouched by the crisis. There was widespread sympathy at the start of Hunter’s trial, when many potential jury members spoke about their own family traumas.
But Loge believes that “the moment President Trump senses there might be political advantage”, he could still seize it. “President Trump has shown he’s pretty willing to throw anybody and everybody under the bus,” he said.
Trump allies have, however, taken his lead to use Tuesday’s verdict to peddle unfounded conspiracy theories that Hunter Biden’s trial was somehow orchestrated to deflect from the alleged crimes of his father.
Charlie Kirk, of the right-wing youth organisation Turning Point USA, said on Twitter/X: “This is a fake trial trying to make the justice system appear ‘balanced’. Don’t fall for it.” Stephen Miller, a former White House adviser, took a similar line, saying on the same platform that “the gun charges are a giant misdirection”.
Other prominent Republican figures appeared to want to deflect attention from the verdict, potentially because it did not chime with their line of a biased judicial system that targeted Trump. Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman for Florida and staunch Trump ally, tweeted that “the Hunter Biden gun conviction is kinda dumb tbh [to be honest]”.
And while Loge was sceptical about any empathetic motivation from the right, he said the verdict did show that addiction was an issue that knew no political divides.
“It doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, Democrat or Republican, rural or urban,” he said. “And I hope that every elected official and candidate looks around at their friends, their family, their loved ones and even themselves and I think, ‘You know what? This is just awful … my heart goes out’.”
