Anyone out there who might have still been under the mindset that even the left-wing media had a line in the sand when it came to what issues they would not run interference for as it relates to Joe Biden got a rude awakening in the aftermath of his public acknowledgment of his seventh grandchild, Navy Roberts, the child of Biden’s son Hunter and Arkansas native Lunden Roberts.
To recap, in one of the most clinical and cold ways possible considering the subject matter, Biden issued the briefest of written statements late on Friday afternoon before heading out on a ten-day vacation, giving People magazine the exclusive story.
“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” the statement read.
“This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter. Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy,” the statement also read.
Biden’s acknowledgment comes only after months of criticism over how when he talks openly about his grandchildren, he mentions that he has “six,” leaving 4-year-old Navy Roberts out as though she doesn’t exist.
Flashback:
While conceding that there was indeed a political angle to all of this, news outlets like CNN and NBC News quickly sprang into action Friday in parroting talking points about how Biden had allegedly been waiting for a while now for the right time to do this because being the proud, doting grandfather he wants people to think he is, he only wanted what was best for Navy Roberts.
For instance, here’s how NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander framed it (bolded emphasis added by me):
Alexander said that President Biden is “in some ways, trying to inoculate himself against the criticism that he hasn’t been acknowledging this seventh grandchild, now doing it publicly. And it really is on-brand with the President to acknowledge his entire family, to embrace family, which is one reason why there had been some real questions about this, including from some prominent columnists in the country, saying that the President needed to do just that.”
Watch:
CNN ran with the Biden White House-pushed narrative about how Biden supposedly wanted to wait until the “protracted and bitter court proceeding over child support” between Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts was over while giving them both the space to work things out (right!):
As the New York Post‘s Miranda Devine noted, though, that explanation didn’t quite add up:
That’s actually not true. Court proceedings were only reopened last September by Hunter seeking to reduce child support payments. Everything was settled in March 2020, after Lunden Roberts established paternity via DNA. Ample opportunity in those 2.5 years for Joe to have acknowledged his grandchild.
Remember, too, that a number of prominent public figures had gone on record calling Joe Biden out on this issue in recent weeks, including New York Times left-wing columnist Maureen Dowd and also a few of his political foes like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 opponent who at least twice this month brought the issue up during campaign stops.
“When Biden says they’re all of our kids, what I say is: why don’t you pay more attention to your granddaughter in Arkansas, or at least acknowledge that she exists?” DeSantis said in Iowa two weeks ago.
At another Iowa event, DeSantis kept the heat on Joe Biden over the issue.
“You’re talking about all of our children; I have something to say to [Joe Biden],” DeSantis remarked. “Why don’t you focus on spending more time with your granddaughter in Arkansas, or at least acknowledge she exists, before you worry about our children?”
Joe Biden finally getting around to acknowledging Navy Roberts was not something he calculated in the best interests of Navy Roberts. It was something that he (and his handlers) calculated in the best interests of Joe Biden’s 2024 political ambitions. Period.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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