OPINION:
Hunter Biden’s biggest scandal isn’t his plea deal over federal tax and gun charges, it’s his child support settlement. Hunter Biden is a deadbeat dad.
On the Friday before Father’s Day, the second son of President Joe Biden was deposed in Little Rock, Arkansas, as part of a child support case involving his four-year-old daughter, Navy Joan Roberts. Her mother, Lunden Roberts, was present for the deposition.
In May 2019, Lunden Roberts filed a suit to determine paternity and then obtain child support. Hunter Biden initially resisted, but after his paternity was established in January 2020, he agreed to child support retroactive to November 2018.
The child support case was reopened when Hunter Biden sought to reduce his $20,000 per month payments. Lawyers for Lunden Roberts filed a motion in December to have her daughter’s last name changed to Biden. The two parties reached a private settlement this week.
Deny fathering the child. Force a court to determine paternity. Support the child only when ordered by a judge. Seek to reduce child support payments without providing accurate documentation of income. Sadly, these are classic characteristics of a deadbeat dad.
Worst of all, Hunter Biden did not want his daughter to share his last name. He says it is to protect her privacy, but that claim is ridiculous. Every time he seeks to change the child support case, her name appears in stories across America. It does not matter if she is called Navy Joan Roberts or Navy Joan Biden.
Hunter Biden is the latest example of people who have fathered children but fail to act like a father. Dads must play a stronger role in the lives of their children for America to be a truly great nation.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.7 million children—about one in every four—live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. Data from the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) shows these children are four times more likely to live in poverty, seven times more likely to become pregnant as a teenager, twice as likely to drop out of school, more likely to commit a crime and go to prison, more likely to face abuse neglect, and more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs. In fact, individuals from homes where the father is absent are 279 percent more likely to carry guns and deal drugs than peers whose fathers are present.
Sadly, fatherhood is under attack in society today. Many of the radial groups on the left are trying to undermine the nuclear family. Yet, research shows its importance to success. The NFI notes involved dads improve their children’s overall emotional and social well-being while driving their kids to do better in school. Children living in homes where the father is involved are less likely to live in poverty, face abuse, or deal with criminal activity.
Fathers need to teach their children about the fundamentals of right and wrong. Earlier on, my dad taught me the importance of standing up for my beliefs, but he also instilled the need to be respectful of those who held different views than ours. He taught my brother and me how to follow rules and laws. He taught us how to defend those who could not defend themselves.
Children also learn how to respect women by how a father treats their mother. My father modeled this with my mom, providing an excellent example of a strong marriage for my brother and me. They did not always agree, but they found a way to work through their occasional differences and put God at the center of their relationship. Thankfully, my brother and I followed his lead and married strong women.
Fathers need to teach their children how to work. My dad was a pastor, and he involved me and my brother in his job. We saw more than his sermons. We saw the time he spent visiting people when they were sick or in need. We saw the time he spent preparing for his vocation.
When I was young, my father encouraged me to get a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant owned by some members of our church. Later, I flipped hamburgers for McDonald’s in high school. I helped with chores around the house and worked on service projects as part of Scouts. These were the ways I learned the importance of hard work.
As a father, I have tried to pass on the same work habits to my sons. They were both employed at a young age, and they still work hard today. My father got his work ethic from his father, who was a machinist for 42 years.
There are many excellent examples of fathers across our country. We need to lift them up so other men take notice. For America to be great, we need fathers to step up.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.