Biden acknowledges granddaughter for first time

President Biden publicly acknowledged his 4-year-old granddaughter, Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time Friday, saying in a statement that he and the first lady, Jill Biden, “only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”

The statement came weeks after a lengthy child support case was settled between the president’s son Hunter and the child’s mother, Lunden Roberts, who told The New York Times this month that she and Hunter Biden “want what is best for our daughter, and that is our only focus.”

The president had been under increasing pressure from critics who said that failing to acknowledge Navy publicly went against the image of a loving patriarch that he has nurtured since the beginning of his political career. In recent weeks, the president told his son that he wants to meet Navy when the time is right, according to a person familiar with those discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Hunter Biden, who is recovering from a crack cocaine addiction, has said in the past that he fathered Navy at a low point in his life and that he did not have a relationship with her.

In his statement, the president said his son and Roberts were working to repair a relationship that had devolved quickly after Navy’s birth and, in recent months, had become grist for conservative media.

“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” Biden told People magazine in a statement.

“This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter,” Biden said. “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”