Karine Jean-Pierre says Hunter Biden gun trial led to Joe’s debate debacle

WASHINGTON, DC: Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre believes the strain of Hunter Biden’s gun trial had a profound impact on former President Joe Biden’s performance in his 2024 debate against Donald Trump.

In her book 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines', Jean-Pierre writes that the debate happened just a few weeks after Hunter Biden’s trial, and the emotional toll of seeing his son in court deeply affected the former president.

“As soon as President Biden opened his mouth at the debate podium, I became worried,” Jean-Pierre recalled.

Karine Jean-Pierre blames Hunter Biden’s legal troubles for Joe Biden’s debate stumble

In her new book, released on Tuesday, October 21, Jean-Pierre offers a behind-the-scenes account of her time in the Biden administration and sheds light on the speculation surrounding the president’s mental state after the debate.

According to Jean-Pierre, she “saw no such decline” in Biden’s cognitive abilities before he stepped onto the stage on June 27, 2024. Instead, she suggests his uneven performance reflected the emotional turmoil he was experiencing as his son faced a federal trial for illegal gun possession.

“First of all, he’d been traveling back and forth to Europe,” she recalls. “Granted, traveling extensively is what world leaders do, and if that completely wipes you out, there’s a good argument to be made that you have no business in the office. But, in the middle of all those trips, Biden’s only living son was also on trial.”

“It had to be straining Biden’s spirit. And frankly, I think his heart broke,” she shared. Hunter was convicted on three charges for weapons, and although the former president later pardoned him, Jean-Pierre says the whole experience took a real emotional toll on him.

Jean-Pierre describes those as “three wrenching weeks” before Biden decided to end his campaign for re-election on July 21, 2024. She writes about a president weighed down by the pressures of his job and the heartbreak of seeing his son on trial, even as the case was brought by his own Justice Department.

She recounts the immediate aftermath of the debate, writing, “Then our phones started going off. It was clear that he was sick, and that this was the beginning of the end.” In her telling, the debate was not a sign of fading competence but a reflection of a father’s heartbreak and exhaustion.

Joe Biden’s debate struggles in 2024 face-off with Donald Trump fueled by emotional and mental strain

During the 2024 presidential debate against Donald Trump, Biden had a noticeable verbal slip. Early in the debate, he said, “We finally beat Medicare,” which confused many people. The White House later explained that he actually meant to say, “We beat big pharma,” talking about a law that lets Medicare negotiate prescription costs. 

“We be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the, with the COVID, excuse me, dealing with everything we have to do with…,” Biden said before pausing for several seconds.

These moments raised concerns about Biden’s mental sharpness and drew widespread criticism of his debate performance. Not long after, under pressure from his own party, he announced on July 21, 2024, that he would end his campaign for a second term.

Hunter Biden convicted of all felony charges in a federal gun trial

Hunter Biden, 54, was convicted on June 11, 2024, of all three felony charges in a federal gun trial in Delaware. The charges stemmed from his purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018, during a period when he was reportedly struggling with crack cocaine addiction. 

The jury deliberated for approximately three hours over two days before returning a unanimous verdict.

The charges against him included making a false statement when purchasing a firearm, providing false information that a licensed firearms dealer is required to keep, and possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.