NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd issued a deeply personal criticism of President Biden following the commander-in-chief’s controversial but unsurprising decision to forgive his son, Hunter.
During his weekly conversation with commentator Chris Cillizza about Cillizza’s Substack pageTodd admitted he “100% knew” Biden would pardon his son — who faced a conviction on two criminal counts.
“Joe Biden needs therapy and I say this with respect. He hasn’t come to terms with Beau’s death. He has a problem – he can’t do that, he has a problem with Hunter. He questions everything he’s done raising Hunter versus raising Beau. I think he blames himself for Hunter’s inability to act like an adult for a while,” Todd said.
Beau passed away in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer.
Chuck Todd suggested President Biden is “emotionally incapable” of being president after pardoning his son Hunter. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg/William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images)
Todd, who noted that he has had a somewhat personal relationship with Biden’s sons in the past, claimed that Hunter has “kind of managed to be human” over the past decade.
“There was no doubt that Joe Biden would not leave office without doing everything he could to protect his son. Pure and simple,” Todd added, calling it a “dad response.”
He then suggested that the possibility of President-elect Donald Trump Forgiving Hunter was a “humiliation” Biden would never do to himself.
President Joe Biden, wearing a Team USA jacket and walking with his son Hunter Biden, heads toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Todd concluded his response by claiming that President Biden was “emotionally incapable” of being president and “probably should never have run.”
In a statement on Sunday evening, Hunter Biden said he would never take “the clemency” his father gave him for granted and that he plans to dedicate his life to helping people with addiction.
The younger Biden, 54, has had a busy year in court. He began his first trial in Delaware in June, when he faced three firearms offenses, before pleading guilty in a separate tax case in September.
Biden pardoning his son is a departure from that his previous comments to the media over the summer, stating he would not do so.
Fox News digital reached out to the Biden White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
