Hunter Biden Slams Obama, Discusses Post‑Election Pardon

Excerpts from Jonathan Karl’s forthcoming book and recent interviews show Hunter Biden enraged that Barack Obama grabbed and led then‑President Joe Biden offstage at a June 2024 Hollywood fundraiser, saying the moment “really, really, really, really pissed me off” and that he nearly jumped onstage. The onstage episode occurred amid mounting Democratic concern about Joe Biden’s age and fitness after a poor debate performance and preceded Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race. Hunter said his father would not have pardoned him if Donald Trump had won and that Trump’s post‑election prosecutions “changed everything,” arguing the pardon was needed to protect him from politically motivated prosecutions. Hunter has acknowledged pleading guilty to tax charges and being convicted on felony gun counts; Joe Biden issued an unconditional pardon on Dec. 1, 2024 covering offenses since 2014 and defended it as correcting selective prosecution. The pardon drew criticism from Donald Trump, who called it an “abuse” and a “miscarriage of justice,” and disappointment from some Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom.