Hunter Biden greets stepmother Jill with a joke on first day of his 'special' gun trial on her 73rd birthday

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE: At the start of his federal firearms trial in Delaware on Monday, June 3, Hunter Biden greeted First Lady, Jill Biden, who appeared at the courthouse, with a birthday joke.

Jill turned 73 years old on the day of the trial. President Joe Biden's son is facing federal charges for illegally possessing a firearm after allegedly lying about his status as a drug user when purchasing a pistol in 2018.

Hunter Biden's trial begins with jury selection

On Monday, as jury selection in the trial began in Wilmington, Delaware, the first lady was seen arriving at the courthouse. Hunter's trial in Delaware is being presided over by Judge Maryellen Noreika.

As Hunter waited for court proceedings to begin, he greeted his stepmother with a birthday joke.

"Happy birthday, I got you a special event," he said, with both of them laughing, the Washington Post reported.

In a post to X (formerly Twitter), White House reporter Tyler Pager noted the moment his colleague Matt Viser reported, writing, "Quite the moment captured by ⁦@mviser⁩ at the start of Hunter Biden's trial today."

Reportedly, 250 people have been called in for jury selection. They’ll be whittled down to a panel of 12 seated jurors and four alternates.   

How does Hunter Biden plan to challenge the gun trial case?

Hunter's legal team in a filing has indicated that the defense intends to question the quality of the prosecution's evidence and argue that the president's son was not using illicit drugs at the time of his gun purchase.

They also plan to question the language used on the federal form.

"The terms 'user' or 'addict' are not defined on the form and were not explained to him," the filing states, according to Newsweek. 

"Someone, like Mr. Biden, who had just completed an 11-day rehabilitation program and lived with a sober companion after that, could surely believe he was not a present tense user or addict," it read.

The charges against Hunter stem from investigations by DOJ special counsel David Weiss, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.

Trump recently became the first US president to be convicted of criminal charges when a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Judge Maryellen Noreika blocks key defense evidence and witnesses on the eve of Hunter Biden's gun trial

Meanwhile, the trial is proving challenging for Hunter as Judge Noreika has blocked key defense evidence and a witness in his case.

According to CNN, the judge granted special counsel Weiss a request to block one of Hunter’s expert witnesses from testifying.

The defense had planned to call a Columbia University-based psychiatrist to challenge the prosecution's assertions

Additionally, the judge blocked Hunter Biden’s lawyers from using what they thought was a key piece of exculpatory evidence: an altered version of the federal firearms form he filled out in 2018, which was tweaked in 2021 by gun store employees.

Internet reacts to Hunter Biden and Jill Biden's lighthearted moment

The light moment between Hunter and Jill Biden in the courtroom drew reactions from internet users.

"My family also uses humor during tough times. Glad she's there to support him," wrote one user on X.

Another commented, "Nice to see she showed up to support him." A third user appreciated the familial support, stating, "She’s a mother who loves her son. All mothers can appreciate that!"

However, not all reactions were supportive. One user compared the situation to Trump's trial, saying, "Can you imagine such humour in a Trump?"

Another criticized the moment, suggesting bias in the trial's outcome, "They're laughing because they know no Delaware jury will convict a Biden."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.