As the White House tip toes around several controversies involving Hunter Biden, one Democratic strategist suggests President Biden could have avoided the increasingly ugly drama surrounding the grandchild the family refuses to publicly acknowledge.
Recently, President Biden said he has "six grandchildren and I'm crazy about them – I speak to them every single day; not a joke."
The problem is Biden has seven grandchildren. That tally does not include Navy Joan Roberts, Hunter's youngest daughter whose mother, Lunden Roberts, took him to court in Arkansas over child support.
On "The Five" Thursday, co-host Jessica Tarlov rejected claims the president would be happy if the child did not exist, and said instead, he should have made clear to Hunter this is one topic the family cannot ignore.
IRS WHISTLEBLOWER'S ATTORNEY REJECTS DISGRUNTLED AGENT CHARGE FROM HUNTER BIDEN'S LAWYER
"I think that this is a moment where the president really could have told his son 'enough's enough' -- Like, 'I'm happy to deal with all this other stuff. I'll take it, about the business dealings, the addiction, the videos; whatever'," she said.
"But this is humanity, right? This is the face of it."
Tarlov said recent reports that Navy Joan knows her grandfather is the president and that Hunter is her dad make the situation even more difficult to fathom.
"There are a lot of people floating around who don't know who their family is, where they don't know their dad is, or they were put up or they were left somewhere and they ended up with wonderful people who took care of them," she said. "But this is someone who is proud of the fact that her grandfather is the president of the United States and doesn't get acknowledged."
WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIMONY SHOWS ‘SOMEONE IS LYING’ IN HUNTER CASE: DEVINE
Tarlov suggested that if the Bidens acknowledged Navy Joan, the American people would be understanding.
"If you're willing to accept someone who was an addict like that and made such terrible choices, like is it so bad that they vote for the other guy? I don't think it's something that will change votes necessarily, but it is just an ugliness that doesn't need to be there," she argued.
Fellow co-host Greg Gutfeld noted President Biden has long campaigned as someone who is empathetic, but that observers believe that is a shallow claim.
"[It was as if] he really could feel his feel your pain, but he won't do anything about it," he said. " And this is a perfect example of it."
Washington Times columnist Charlie Hurt agreed, pointing out how that empathy was the theme of Biden's 2020 campaign, and that the president was supposed to "restore normalcy," but has failed so far
.TURLEY: HUNTER BIDEN'S COUNTERSUIT AGAINST WILMINGTON REPAIRMAN ‘ONE OF THE WEIRDEST FILINGS’
"Most people in Washington already kind of knew this side of him. They knew that he was a sort of a liar. They knew that he made things up. He would just talk about anything. He would say anything that helped him at any given moment.
"And when he talked about his family, people in Washington also kind of knew that he was less of a family man and more just willing to exploit his family when it served to benefit him," Hurt said.
"Five" co-host Katie Pavlich added that first lady Jill Biden notably did not include Navy's name in a row of Christmas stockings on the White House hearth.
"She only hangs six stockings, which is just absolutely abhorrent and it's just not true," she said. "The problem with this for them is that it brings the consequences of Hunter's bad behavior into a reality. And that's what they don't like."
"They think they can bury the laptop because the media did it for them. They think they cannot talk about Hunter's behavior from the White House podium because he's a private citizen," Pavlich went on. "But when it comes to having an actual human child there, it's very clear that Hunter's behavior has caught up to him --and when you don't want your child to have your last name, it's pretty disgusting."
