Ask A Genius 1439: Was Joe Biden Wrong to Run in 2020 While Hunter Was in Recovery?
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/02
Jake Tapper and Chuck Todd recently questioned Joe Biden’s presidential run during Hunter Biden’s recovery from addiction. Rick Rosner rebuts, arguing Hunter was a 50-year-old in recovery by 2020 and not a dependent adolescent. He criticizes the media’s focus on Biden instead of current leadership’s crises and dysfunction.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, Jake Tapper, a journalist for CNN, recently co-authored a book that came out a couple of months ago. In it, he claims that Joe Biden was a complete mess during his presidency, and that the Biden family—along with the rest of the White House—conspired to hide this from the American public. In Seinfeldese, what’s the deal?
Rick Rosner: Now, we do know that Biden appeared either disoriented or weak during his debate with Trump. That performance ultimately led to his withdrawal from the 2024 race and his replacement by Kamala Harris. Today, apparently, Jake Tapper appeared on Chuck Todd’s podcast, where they discussed the idea that Biden may have secretly been a terrible person.
Chuck Todd, for context, was a not-so-popular MSNBC host of Meet the Press, who eventually lost that job. And now, like many former TV journalists, he is hosting a podcast. On today’s episode, he and Tapper criticized Biden—specifically arguing that Biden, who has long been portrayed as a devoted family man, continued to run for president even while his son, Hunter Biden, was battling addiction. The implication was: what kind of family man would do that?
So I looked into that claim. The first question that came to mind was this: why are they not talking about the current guy—the one who is president now, who is bombing Iran and might have his own family issues? If we are going to criticize someone for family-related decisions, should we not focus on the current occupant of the White House?
Second question: is it really fair—or reasonable—to expect a good parent to quit their job, or stop pursuing an important position, simply because their adult child is struggling with addiction? That seems like an odd—and potentially harmful—expectation. In fact, maintaining employment might be the more responsible choice. It provides access to health insurance, financial stability, and other resources that could help support the child.
So let me ask you, Scott: is that a reasonable expectation? If your child is dealing with addiction, of course that will deplete your emotional and psychological resources. You will likely invest significant time and energy into helping them. That can detract from your focus in other areas—perhaps even your job.
In extreme cases, yes, some parents may need to take time off, use their vacation days, reduce their hours, or even leave work temporarily. But that is very different from saying someone should quit running for president because of it.
Now let me add another important detail: what if the child in question is 50 years old?
At that point, you would reasonably expect a grown man—a middle-aged adult—to have more capacity and resources to manage his own addiction than, say, a 17- or 22-year-old. A teenager or young adult typically requires more parental involvement. But Hunter Biden was 50 years old when Joe Biden ran for president in 2020.
And one more piece of information—based on what I have seen (though I would need to double-check the details)—the last time Hunter Biden went to rehab was in 2019.
So we are not talking about an adolescent in crisis. We are talking about a grown man, one year out from his most recent rehab stint, while his father was running for the presidency.
He had dealt with addiction issues requiring repeated treatment from around 2013 to 2019. By 2020, I believe he was clean. In 2021, he published a memoir detailing his struggles with addiction and his path to recovery. So, by the time Joe Biden was running for president in 2020, Hunter Biden was likely sober and working on his autobiography.
In my view, Joe Biden had no obligation to withdraw from the race to support his 50-year-old son—who had already entered recovery. Yes, Hunter had been to rehab multiple times, and getting clean did not guarantee he would stay clean. But he was not some helpless dependent.
Hunter Biden had a substantial professional history. He served as chairman of Amtrak, led various companies, and held significant responsibilities—despite serious personal setbacks. This was not someone incapable of managing his own life.
Another important piece of context: Joe Biden chose not to run for president in 2016 because he was devastated by the death of his older son, Beau Biden. Had he run in 2016, it arguably could have changed the course of the country—but he felt too emotionally shattered to continue at that time.
By 2020, Biden believed the country needed him. He had 46 years of experience in national politics—38 years as a senator and 8 years as vice president. He made a judgment call. He believed he was uniquely positioned to defeat Trump and restore stability.
So the idea that it was somehow inappropriate for him to run in 2020 because his adult son was in recovery from addiction—it is a bizarre and unfair line of criticism.
And the fact that this is still being brought up, six months into a presidency that is demonstrably more chaotic than Biden’s ever was, is frankly absurd.
Unless you have further thoughts, we can segue into some specific reasons why the current administration is so much more dysfunctional.
Jacobsen: I also want to cover a few things in logics. Now, this next bit is going to be interesting.
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