Hunter Biden is more influential than ever as his embattled father alienates fellow Democrats who are desperate to replace him.
Since Joe's debate debacle, his son has risen to become the "proxy commander-in-chief," the New York Post's Miranda Devine reports.
Hunter Biden's personal fortunes have always been closely linked with his father's political status, but that connection has never been so clear as it is now, with his father facing the potential end of his career.
Since Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance last month, Hunter has been a regular presence at White House meetings and events including a Medal of Honor ceremony. Hunter Biden has even consulted his father on writing speeches.
While he has often been dismissed as a reckless fool, Hunter Biden should not be underestimated when his self-interest is threatened, Devine warns Democrats.
Hunter Biden was convicted of felony gun crimes in June and is facing another trial for tax evasion in the fall.
Despite what many think, "he is highly intelligent, manipulative, methodical and always out for his own ends, which, now more than ever, depend on his father maintaining power," Devine writes.
While Joe Biden has pledged not to pardon his son, many are skeptical of that commitment, especially as Biden throws away his 2020 pledge to be a "bridge" candidate. Instead, Biden has planted himself firmly behind the Resolute desk and dared Democrats to drag him away.
“Knowing them on a familial level, they [will] have to be dragged out,” said one former friend of the Bidens.
“I think the Bidens are going to fight all the way into the ground,” said another. “[They] only give a s- -t about themselves and the Bidens.”
Hunter Biden may also see his father's crisis as a test of "his leadership skills and believe that his manifest destiny is playing out," another friend told Devine.
The drama is not only political, but deeply personal. The first son is protective of his father and resentful toward the Obamas for putting him down through the years, Devine noted.
Joe Biden echoed those feelings of resentment in an interview Monday where he bashed Democrat "elites" for trying to push him out.
Needless to say, Democrats are in quite a pickle.
