House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would not address President Biden’s refusal to acknowledge his grandchild Navy Joan Roberts, the out-of-wedlock daughter of his son Hunter Biden.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mr. Jeffries, New York Democrat, told The Washington Times when asked at a press conference if he thought the president should publicly recognize his four-year-old granddaughter.
Mr. Jeffries added that he did not think that the president’s reelection campaign would be marred by his son’s personal and legal problems or allegations of influence peddling and bribery to make a fortune from foreign business deals.
Hunter Biden reached a child support agreement with the mother of his child, Lunden Alexis Roberts, last month. Ms. Roberts and her daughter now live in Arkansas.
According to court documents, Hunter Biden agreed to pay a monthly undisclosed sum to Ms. Robert and turn over his paintings, which have been listed for $500,000 each, the net proceeds of which would go to his daughter.
Additionally, Ms. Roberts agreed to drop her legal bid to change the child’s surname to Biden.
Ms. Roberts had argued in court filings that her daughter would have benefitted from having the Biden name, which she said, “Is now synonymous with being well educated, successful, financially acute and politically powerful.”
Ms. Roberts said Hunter Biden is not involved in Navy’s life. Hunter Biden initially denied fathering the child, but a court-ordered DNA test proved he was the father.
The president has never publicly acknowledged the little girl and has excluded her name from a lineup of Christmas stockings on a White House fireplace mantle and left her off the invitation list for the traditional Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn.
President Biden routinely omits her when he talks about his grandchildren. Last May, he named six of his grandchildren at a “Take Your Child to Work Day” event on the White House grounds. He omitted Navy Joan.
“They’re crazy about me,” Mr. Biden told the crowd after listing six grandchildren. “Because I pay so much attention to them.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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