In a candid, wide-ranging exclusive interview with the BBC’s *Newsnight*, Hunter Biden has opened up about one of the most controversial acts of his father’s presidency, the spread of Joe Biden’s cancer, and his own decades-long battle with addiction, offering unflinching insight into the personal and political turmoil that shaped the end of the 46th U.S. president’s term.
The interview, one of Hunter Biden’s most extensive public appearances since Joe Biden left office, addressed the full and unconditional presidential pardon Joe Biden granted him in December 2024 — a decision that broke the former president’s previous public pledge not to use executive power to interfere in his son’s federal legal cases.
Acknowledging the widespread bipartisan criticism the pardon sparked, Hunter Biden admitted the move was not beneficial for the American public, the U.S. Constitution, or his father’s political legacy. “It’s something that is easily criticised and for good reason,” he told the BBC. “It’s not fair… All I know is that I’m grateful that he did it for me.” While he accepted the legitimacy of public pushback, he pushed back against claims that the pardon demonstrated blatant nepotism, arguing that Joe Biden’s choice stemmed from a genuine, personal fear: that Hunter would become a political target of incoming President Donald Trump’s administration. He also emphasized that the pair never discussed the possibility of a pardon before it was issued, noting that any pre-pardon conversation would almost certainly have been leaked to the public. “I was the only one in the world that could have gotten what I got from the only person in the world who could give it, my father,” he said. The blanket pardon covered all federal offenses Hunter Biden committed between 2014 and 2024, including his prior federal gun conviction and the tax charges to which he had pleaded guilty. In justifying the pardon when it was announced, Joe Biden had argued his son had been the victim of selective, politically motivated prosecution.
The conversation turned deeply personal when Hunter Biden addressed his father’s ongoing battle with cancer, growing visibly emotional as he shared updates on the former president’s health. He confirmed that the cancer has metastasized, spreading to Joe Biden’s bones and other areas of the body, causing severe, constant pain and significant disability. “Cancer is really hard. It’s really sad to watch,” he said, pausing to clear his throat. Despite the grim diagnosis, Hunter Biden described his 82-year-old father as the unshakable center of their family, praising his stoicism through relentless pain: “My dad is, to this day, the centre of our family. He’s the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather. The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more.”
Hunter Biden also reflected on the June 2024 presidential debate that ultimately forced Joe Biden to end his re-election campaign, saying that watching the performance from his California home left him immediately alarmed. “I was shocked. I knew something was wrong,” he recalled. He previously attributed the poor performance to extreme physical fatigue from a grueling campaign travel schedule, but now he says the undiagnosed cancer likely already impacted his father’s performance that night. He added that despite his illness, Joe Biden remains actively engaged in political discourse and committed to speaking out on public issues.
Opening up about his own well-documented struggle with addiction, Hunter Biden described the darkest days of his substance abuse, recalling that at his worst, he drank nearly a full gallon of vodka daily and smoked crack cocaine every 15 minutes. “It was hell on earth. There’s nothing glamorous about it,” he said. Rejecting claims that his addiction stemmed from a sense of privileged invincibility as the son of a powerful politician, he explained he turned to drugs and alcohol to escape crippling feelings of anxiety and isolation. What began as a coping mechanism quickly became a fatal threat: “The drugs and alcohol initially felt like a solution before becoming ‘the thing that almost killed me,’” he said.
When asked about persistent speculation that he would pursue a career in elected politics, even a potential presidential run, Hunter Biden flatly ruled out any bid for public office. “I have no interest in elected politics,” he said, pushing back firmly on the rumors. Instead, he plans to dedicate his time to advocacy for addiction recovery, a cause he argues can transcend America’s toxic partisan divides. “I believe that addiction and the hope of recovery are something that connect us all,” he said.
When asked what trait of his father he is most proud of, Hunter Biden did not point to Joe Biden’s decades of public service, but to his relentless resilience in the face of repeated personal and political hardship. “I’m most proud of his resilience. He’s proven time and time again that when you get knocked down, you can get up. He’s the toughest man I know,” he said.