A different time! Hunter Biden opened up about his past romance with his late brother’s widow, Hallie Biden, and the public reaction that came from it.
“I think people were confused by it. And I understand that. I mean, I really do. To me, it’s not something that is difficult to explain,” Hunter, 51, explained during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning on Sunday, April 4.
While promoting his new memoir, Beautiful Things, President Biden’s son reflected back on the decision that “came out of a real overwhelming grief” between the pair. Hunter began a relationship with the school guidance counselor, 46, in 2017, two years after Beau tragically died from brain cancer. They continued to date for two more years before they broke up in 2019.
“We were together and trying to do the right thing. And that grief turned into a hope for a love that maybe could replace what we lost,” the lawyer shared with CBS’s Tracy Smith. “Well, I made a lot of decisions that I probably shouldn’t have made. There was a lot more compassion and understanding from the people that knew me. But it was a horrible time, too.”
Joe Biden, 78, released a statement at the time. “We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness,” he said in 2017. “They have mine and [my wife] Jill [Biden]’s full and complete support and we are happy for them.”
The following year, Hunter told Vanity Fair that the former senator had “always remained proud” of him. “He has been a constant source of love and strength in my life,” the Georgetown University grad gushed of Joe in January 2019.
Hunter was previously married to Kathleen Biden from 1993 to 2017, and the exes share daughters Naomi, 26, Finnegan, 21, and Maisy, 20. Hunter welcomed his fourth child in 2018 with a woman from Arkansas who sued him for child support. The lawyer initially denied paternity, but a test proved otherwise.
Hunter married Melissa Cohen in May 2019, after less than one week of dating. They welcomed a son in April 2020, who they chose to name Beau, after his late brother.
