Hunter Biden nearly confronted Obama for leading dad off stage at Hollywood fundraiser
WASHINGTON, DC.: Hunter Biden revealed he was furious with former President Barack Obama for leading his father, then-President Joe Biden, off stage at a Hollywood fundraiser last year. He said he was so enraged that he nearly confronted Obama in front of the crowd.
According to excerpts from ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl’s forthcoming book 'Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign that Changed America', obtained by Axios on Tuesday, October 21, Hunter said the moment made him “really, really, really, really pissed off.”
Hunter Biden recalls being enraged by Barack Obama’s gesture
“I almost jumped up on the stage and said, ‘Don’t ever f—king do that to the president of the United States again—ever,’” Hunter told Karl during the interview months later.
The first son said he knew instantly that the awkward moment would go viral online. “I knew that that was going to be a meme,” he added. “That really, really, really, really pissed me off.”
The incident occurred at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, where Joe Biden appeared frozen for nearly ten seconds before Obama grabbed him by the wrist and gently directed him off stage.
The episode, which unfolded at a star-studded campaign fundraiser, reignited questions about Joe Biden’s age and mental sharpness after multiple instances where the president appeared disoriented in public.
Joe Biden’s Hollywood fundraiser and its aftermath
The Los Angeles fundraiser, held roughly ten days before Biden’s disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump, reportedly raised over $30 million for the Biden campaign. The event drew Hollywood A-listers, including actor and Democratic donor George Clooney, who later wrote a New York Times op-ed questioning Biden’s fitness for office.
“He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020,” Clooney wrote. “He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Biden ultimately ended his re-election campaign less than a month later, citing health and leadership concerns that had mounted since the event.
Fallout from George Clooney’s remarks
Clooney’s comments reportedly “shook” several Democratic figures, with journalists Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper writing in their book 'Original Sin' that the actor was “shaken to his core” when the president failed to recognize him at the fundraiser.
“The president hadn’t recognized him—a man he had known for years,” they wrote. The remarks infuriated Hunter Biden, who lashed out at Clooney in a July interview on YouTube’s Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan.
“F**k him. F**k him. F**k him and everybody around him,” Hunter said of Clooney. “Number one, I agree with [director] Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney is not a f*****g actor … he is a brand. He’s great friends with Barack Obama. F**k you. What do you have to do with f*****g anything?"
