‘What the hell is happening?’: Hunter Biden joins White House meetings after debate flop

Hunter Biden has joined White House meetings with his father Joe Biden and top aides in the wake of the president’s panic-fuelling appearance during last week’s debate against Donald Trump.

The president’s son, who was convicted on gun-related charges in federal court last month, attended meetings with the president and his staff to prepare for Biden’s speech in response to the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity.

Hunter traveled back to the White House with his father after the family’s visit to Camp David over the weekend and then joined a meeting to prepare for the speech, and “he ended up spending time with his dad and his family that night,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Tuesday.

According to NBC News, Hunter has been “closely advising” his father after the family gathered at Camp David over the weekend following the president’s disastrous debate performance.

The younger Biden has “popped into” meetings and phone calls that the president has had with some of his advisers, the outlet reported.

The reaction from some senior White House staff has been “what the hell is happening?” according to NBC.

“The president as you know is very close to his family. This is a holiday week, Fourth of July,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at the White House on Tuesday

“Hunter came back with him and walked with him into that meeting, that prep, that speech prep, and … he ended up spending time with his dad and his family that night,” she said. “That is basically what happened. It is a week where there’s going to be more family members who are going to come to the White House. I’m sure you’ll see some of them on Fourth of July. Many more are expected to be here.”

Asked whether Hunter has been participating in meetings with senior advisers, Jean-Pierre repeated that he returned to the White House after the family’s trip to Camp David and that he was “in the room” for speech prep.

But “anything else coming out of that reporting I can’t speak to,” she said.

“They were together at Camp David. They came back together. You’re going to see a lot more family this week,” she said.

Hunter is reportedly among the strongest voices in Biden’s family urging him to stay in the presidential race while major newspaper editorials, a majority of Democratic voters and prominent allies have argued that the president should end his re-election campaign.

The younger Biden, whom the president has long depended on for advice, wants Americans to see a more commanding version of his father compared to the stumbling and frequently incoherent president on display during the debate, according to The New York Times.

The family’s pre-planned visit to Camp David, scheduled well before Biden’s debate, marked the first time that the family had gathered together after a jury found that Hunter lied on a gun purchasing form by stating that he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.