First son Hunter Biden slammed Republican leaders and the media for weaponizing his drug and alcohol addiction, writing in an op-ed for USA Today that his "mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained disinformation campaign against [President Joe Biden], and an all-out annihilation of my reputation."
The president's son is facing charges for not disclosing his drug use when he purchased a handgun in 2018. The House Judiciary Committee and Ways and Means committee, led by Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jason Smith (Mo.), respectively, are also investigating Biden and his family's "influence peddling schemes."
"My addiction doesn’t justify Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui posting altered nude photos of me with 'editorial creativity over the pictures,'" Biden wrote Thursday. "My addiction shouldn’t permit the likes of Rudy Giuliani or a former Peter Navarro aide to debase and dehumanize me for their own gains."
Biden criticized the right for using him as a "punchline and punching bag." He also expressed fears that the hate he has received over his drug addiction will deter other substance abusers from seeking help.
"The weaponization of my addiction by partisan and craven factions represents a real threat to those desperate to get sober but are afraid of what may await them if they do."
Biden said he "fully accept[s] that the choices and mistakes I made are mine. ... That is what recovery is about."
"The effort of recovery is something that should be celebrated, and I hope that despite my role as the punchline and punching bag for some, others will also make the effort I have made."