Biden, 80, fears he could die before his son Hunter’s legal problems are resolved and expects them to get worse, a report says

President Joe Biden fears he could die before his son Hunter’s legal issues are resolved, as the family fears the situation could get worse before it gets better, according to a new report released Tuesday.

Biden, 80, has spoken behind closed doors about his fear of death, sources close to the Bidens said NBC News.

That’s in contrast to Biden’s public appearance, where he repeatedly joked that he was the oldest president in American history. At a fundraiser in New York on Monday evening, Biden described his age as experience.

“A lot of people seem to focus on my age. Believe me, I know better than anyone,” he said. “When this nation was on its knees, I knew what to do.”

“I’m more optimistic about the future of this country than I have been in the 800 years I’ve served,” he added with a laugh.

The president has a clean bill of health from his doctor and the best medical care in the world. However, he sometimes has difficulty walking and verbally stumbles.

President Joe Biden, 80, fears he will die before his son’s legal problems are resolved, a new report says

If Biden wins a second term in next year’s election, he would be 86 when he leaves office.

And polls show voters are concerned that Biden is too old for another four years in the White House.

In addition, some Democrats worry that the president, who defeated 77-year-old Donald Trump in the 2020 election, may not have the energy to do it again next year.

“He is at a time in his life where death and death are imminent,” said Sharon Sweda, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Lorain County, Ohio The Washington Post . “We all have a ticking clock. But when you’re his age or Trump’s age, the clock ticks a little faster, and that’s a concern for voters.”

Compounding the age problem, some aides worry that Hunter’s legal troubles could divide the president’s attention when he needs to focus on running the country and campaigning for re-election.

Aides say that both the president and first lady Jill Biden are unwilling to hear about the political implications of the matter and that they have accepted the fact that Hunter’s legal problems are likely to get worse in the coming months. NBC News reported.

A source told the news station that the Hunter issue is so sensitive that “everyone in the West Wing is walking on eggshells” and is reluctant to bring up the matter.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden is on the offensive after he was hit with three federal charges and an investigation into his taxes in connection with his 2018 purchase of a handgun. He has sued the IRS over the disclosure of his tax information, which he says should remain confidential.

President Biden has not publicly addressed his son’s recent legal troubles. But he told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle earlier this year that he was proud of Hunter’s recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

“It impacts my presidency because it makes me proud of him,” Biden said.

President Joe Biden with wife Jill, son Hunter, Hunter’s wife Melissa and their son Beau in November 2022

Hunter with President Joe Biden in June 2023 – Aides fear his son’s legal troubles could distract the president

The Biden family suffered another blow earlier this summer when Hunter’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors fell through.

U.S. Attorney David Weiss and Hunter’s lawyers reached a deal in July that required the president’s son to plead guilty in federal court in Delaware to two counts of failing to pay his taxes in exchange for prosecutors’ recommendation of probation.

A separate felony gun charge for illegally possessing the Colt Cobra .38 specialty handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden had complied with the terms of a so-called diversion agreement.

The plea deal, which Republicans called a “sweetheart deal,” collapsed in a Delaware courtroom when the presiding judge began questioning some of its details, including one that theoretically freed Hunter Biden from other tax crimes during the same period would protect.

Prosecutors said this was not the case. Hunter’s lawyers said that was the case. The agreement failed. The three federal indictments related to the gun purchase were announced earlier this month.

In two cases the maximum prison sentence is ten years, in the third case a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

In addition, Biden himself is now facing an impeachment inquiry. House Republicans are accusing the Biden family of benefiting from Hunter Biden’s business deals, which they say came about because Joe Biden was vice president.

President Biden said he was never involved in his son’s business affairs.

He brushed aside the impeachment inquiry and told donors last week, “I have a job to do.” Everyone has always asked for impeachment. I get up every day, no joke, I’m not focused on impeachment. I have a job to do. I have to deal with the issues affecting the American people every single day.’

Republicans claim Joe Biden spoke to Hunter’s business partners who called him the “big guy.”

The White House said those discussions were casual and did not involve any business deals.

President Biden with First Lady Jill Biden, son Hunter and grandson Beau in July 2023

Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden under intense pressure from the right wing of the Republican Party

Hunter’s former business partner, Devon Archer, said in testimony before the House Oversight Committee this summer that Hunter put his father on speakerphone about 20 times during business meetings.

At the time of Archer’s closed-door testimony, Democrats in the room said Archer described the calls as personal.

“The witness stated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and that over the course of their ten-year relationship, Hunter may have called his father approximately 20 times with any number of different people without them once discussing business.” businesses,” Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York said at the time.

“As he described it, it was just casual conversation, pleasantries, the weather, what’s going on.” “There was not a single conversation about the business dealings that Hunter had,” Goldman noted.

But Republican leader James Comer of Kentucky said Archer testified that Joe Biden “attended Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business partners more than 20 times in person or on speakerphone” and was called to sell “the brand.”

Comer said the statement showed: “Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge of his son’s business dealings and was not involved.” “Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son was in the whole thing World sold to enrich the Biden family.”

The White House has accused Republicans of electoral politics in its impeachment inquiry.