In Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the main character’s search for his true name comes to a head when he finally demands “would you kindly inform me who I am?” In an astonishing filing this week, Hunter Biden answered that question for his four-year-old daughter Navy Joan and effectively declared “you are no Biden.”
Hunter Biden’s disgraceful treatment of his daughter has long been on display in Arkansas where he long denied being her father, fought paternity, and was threatened with contempt of court over his failure to supply needed documents. After DNA testing was forced by a court, Hunter was found to be the father but he continued to resist efforts to force him to pay child support and supply financial records.
Recently, Lunden Roberts sought to have a surname change for her daughter to Biden. Even after his long and abusive treatment of his daughter in court, Hunter Biden’s opposition is breathtaking. He opposes his daughter using his name and says that, if she does, she will never have a “peaceful existence.”
Of course, Biden did not feel that way with his other four children. They are all true Bidens and living peaceful existences. It is only Navy Joan who he does not want to bear the family name.
Hunter’s concern for Navy Joan’s peaceful existence is a bit odd since he has reportedly never even seen his daughter after fighting for years to deny his paternal status and child support.
While living in a luxurious mansion in Malibu, Hunter continued to fight his obligations under child support and requested in September 2022 to have the payments lowered, bemoaning how his “financial circumstances” were difficult for him. The public pays more for his security in his mansion than he does in monthly support for his daughter.
Hunter is asking Circuit Court Judge Holly Meyer to deny Navy Joan the ability to use her father’s surname and claiming that it is in her best interest. The filing is so self-serving and transparently dishonest that it does what was once thought impossible: reach a new low for Hunter. All of his reported selfies having sex and doing drugs with prostitutes were shocking. His attacks on his former sister-in-law, Hallie Biden, widow of the deceased brother (with whom Hunter later had a romantic relationship), were appalling. However, the craven effort to deny this child his name reaches a level of cad that stands unrivaled.
The position of Hunter in court has been disgraceful, but the media has largely ignored the matter. It has also ignored the utter lack of support from President Joe Biden and the First Lady, who tellingly omitted a stocking for Navy Joan as one of their grandchildren. (The dog and cat did receive stockings). There is no record that Joe or Jill Biden have ever sought to meet, let alone embrace, their grandchild. The President has, however, sought to deny the child security protection (despite his son’s concern for her “peaceful existence”).
Joe Biden has long campaigned against “deadbeat Dads” but when a Fox reporter asked about Hunter’s refusal to pay child support, President Biden snapped at him and refused to answer the question on the “personal matter.” (The media also ignored Hunter’s deadbeat dad record in fawning interviews about this “bravery” in writing a book on his life).
The obvious effort of the Biden family in this filing is to preserve distance from this child. The legal standard for a name change in Arkansas has been based on the “best interests of the child,” not the political interest of the father and his family. Indeed, historically, Arkansas courts followed a presumption in favor of a child have the surname of its father.
More recently, the Arkansas Supreme Court in Huffman v. Fisher laid out various factors to balance including (1) the child’s preference; (2) the effect on the child’s relationship with each parent; (3) the length of time that the child has borne the prior surname; (4) the community respect for the rivaling surnames; (5) the social difficulties that could arise from the adoption of the new surname; and (6) the presence of any parental misconduct or neglect.
The petition is based on the best interest of the child. Roberts’ lawyer claims that the Biden name is “now synonymous with being well educated, successful, financially acute, and politically powerful.” The “financially acute” part did jump out for many of us who have followed Hunter Biden’s scandals for years. The Bidens have certainly made themselves wealthy during Joe Biden’s time in office. However, they are synonymous not with financial acuity but influence peddling. While influence peddling has long been the leading industry in Washington, the Bidens have long taken it to levels unimagined by other powerful families with millions in windfall payments from foreign sources, including some connected to foreign intelligence operations.
Nevertheless, the child is clearly better off with the Biden surname, particularly in establishing the very connection that Hunter, Joe, and Jill Biden seem committed to conceal or ignore. Navy Joan is the grandchild of the 46th President of the United States. That alone makes the change beneficial. Navy Joan will be able to benefit from the cache of that connection in applying to college, seeking employment, and other pursuits. It also establishes (despite the efforts of the Bidens) that she is part of the family’s legacy.
Joe Biden often talks about his Irish roots and his family tree. The familial legacy also includes Navy Joan. Those are her relatives even if they refuse to recognize or embrace her.
There is no real doubt about the best interests of his child in his filing. For their part, the Bidens have made it clear what is in their best interest. It is not this child. The court should make fast work of this petition and change Navy Joan’s surname to Biden. That will not make the family more loving or supportive or accepting. She will have to eventually deal emotionally with this latest effort to conceal her true identity.
Yet, she is a Biden and could easily prove the best of the lot.
This column appeared in Fox.com
The Biden seed, no morals, no ethics and no sense of what’s right or wrong. These is a gene pool of sychopaths. I’ll bet they breed well in captivity.
Dear Bob: the word is “psychopaths”, and what you describe about “no morals, no ethics and no sense of right or wrong” aptly describes Trump–a chronic, habitual liar lacking in any semblance of empathy or honesty. Jared has always been in bed with the Saudis because he, like his father-in-law, is a lousy businessman whose businesses generate endless losses and who must constantly borrow money to keep from going under, all to perpetrate the myth of success. Jared’s dealings with Saudis disqualified him from security clearances, but Trump overruled them. This is just one explanation for Jamal Kashoggi’s murder not even being criticized by Trump. Kashoggi was a US-based journalist, and was lured to a Saudi embassy to get papers he needed in order to get married where he was murdered and his body was cut up on the orders of the same Saudi leader Jared was doing business with. Somehow, the Republicans aren’t interested in investigating this relationship, but they can’t wait to go after Hunter Biden, who never worked in the White House. What did Biden’s other son, Beau Biden, ever do that was wrong? You’re just another blind Trump disciple, who believes the endless attacks on Hunter Biden as a deflection away from the truly concerning crap that went on when Trump was wrongfully stinking up the White House.
Now do the ‘Biden family business’ dealings with Ukraine, Russia aaannnnd, China! Then imagine Trump saying CHYnah, cuz you know you miss him just for that.
PS Kashoggi was no “journalist”…..try again.
Gigi, when you get up in the morning, is Donald Trump the first thing you think of?
Get help.
Kashoggi was a Moslem Brotherhood operative. Plain and simple. And therefore he got what he deserved, just as every member of that organization should get. The fact that he wrote a column for a newspaper should make no difference at all. “Journalists” are not special, nor entitled to any privilege not available to carpenters, garbage collectors, or telephone sanitizers.
Trump! Trump!! Trump!!!
This article wasn’t about a Trump grandchild that was being shunned but those with bad cases of TDS like Gigi just can’t help themselves.
I am waiting for the “true Bidens” who will want to change their names.
I stongly disagree with Turley’s conclusion that it is in the child’s best interest to be recognized as a Biden. It’s no more in her best interest to be a Biden than it would be in the best interests of the children of Benedict Arnold to be recognized has his children, or any children of OJ Simpson to be recognized as his children.
In any just society, a person SHOULD be recognized based upon their own merits. To cheat them out of that possibility is the ultimate theft.
While mom may want the name change I cannot fathom why she thinks “Biden” is an improvement. Given the meth-driven father, the psycho sister, the fake self-absorbed Doctor, and the braindead insatiable-lying head of the family who will be remembered as the worst and dumbest president in USA history, it makes no sense whatsoever.
My favorite is how ‘in-your-face’ Joe Biden acts as he shamelessly brings his filthy, disgusting, corrupt, money-laundering son Hunter to the White House, flaunting his “can’t touch this” arrogance. We see Hunter flying off to vacations on Air Force One, parading around the White House at all the glittery, celeb-filled events, hob-knobbing at the state dinner for Macron, and even marrying off one of his daughters at a “private” White House wedding they simply declared “closed to press.”
The sense of entitlement and shameless arrogance of the treasonous, sell-out, scumbag Joe Biden, is truly disgusting to watch.
When the Biden criminals are held to justice, it may not be in her best interest to have his name. However, if there is a Biden alive who should get money, its her.
Haha. Biden criminals held to justice? Not. gonna. happen.
She’s a female offspring of Hunter Biden. No court is necessary to make both true. It would be wise to wait until a thorough investigation of the Biden’s is in the history books to determine what is in her best interests.
Navy Joan doesn’t fit the Biden narrative. This brings back memories of how Hillary Clinton aggressively went after the women who slept with Bill Clinton to protect his “image”. And the mainstream media’s protection program for the Biden family goes on non-stop……
Dear Prof Turley,
You’re a funny f*cker, and I only read the lede .. . but it sure beats watching the ugly, raw political cannibalism on Face the Nation over the preponderance of TS/SCI documents coming out the woodwork, left and right!
*I’ll read the rest of your story.
It ain’t me. I ain’t no Senator’s son .. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1cF9YwGjJ8
Even at the risk of losing any potential inheritance (which would always be tainted as ill-gotten booty) I would not wish that name on anyone at this point. Only shame and derision will follow this name into history.
Some people just don’t believe in any ‘bad’ publicity. There is no such as bad publicity. .. It’s against their religion.
*I think they may be talking cross-purposes.
Dear Professor, you are using terms like “shocking”, “craven”, “disgraceful”. One can almost see the greater brightness of the letters in your blog as you pounded out this particular column. I can understand the vehemence of the moment. Hunter Biden is all of those things and I guess our main question should be “is anyone surprised?”. When you look at Joe Biden’s history through the ages, is any of this a surprise? What seems surprising to me is that he reportedly had 1 normal son, who unfortunately died. As the Father so is the son. Joe is the prototypical parent enabler who sees nothing but glowing children who can do no wrong and who bails their kids out no matter what they do. I saw this tragedy play out innumerable times as a physician. The difficulty was those kids never appreciated their largesse and just demanded more and subsequently often stripped their parents of all possessions and dignity.
One of my children was arrested for a DUI. I heard about it weeks later. When discussed with my child, the response was “Well you told me if I ever got a DUI, don’t call you because you would not bail me out”. True. Called a friend instead, raised the money for the fine and lawyer, took the felony conviction, entered the program for rehab, cleaned up and never a problem since over 2 decades”. A great job, good friends, and a child to be proud of. I simply issued the warning. My child knew me and took it to heart. I did nothing else but my child did all the work.
Actually, I am disdainful of both sides. Navy Joan’s mom seems eager to have her daughter ‘celebritized’ by association with the Biden name, even though Hunter has played no role in her life. Her attorneys argue that the Biden name is “synonymous with “being well educated, successful, financially acute, and politically powerful.” ??????? I’m amused by the the facts that define those
qualities.
Assume, arguendo, that an illegitimate child fathered by Donald Trump’s son sued to carry his surname…can you imagine NYT’s or WaPo’s take on this?
Alternatively, maybe Navy Joan should get herself an Ed.D. (not a Ph.D); demand that everyone outside of academia refer to her as “Doctor;” and sell her name-sake influence accordingly. Then maybe Jill and Joe would hang her stocking up for Christmas.
HARVARD LAW has LAURENCE TRIBE….YALE LAW has HUNTER BIDEN….TWO FORMERLY HALLOWED INSTITUTIONS’ REPUTATIONS now shot to HELL …ever hear of cutting bait?
Like despicable son, like despicable father. Joe has spent the last nearly 50 years falsely blaming an innocent person for the death of his first wife and daughter. Why should we expect hunter to be any more upright?
In the best-interests standard, the prongs leaning most heavily against a change of surname are: (4) the community respect for the rivaling the surnames, and (6) the presence of any parental misconduct or neglect. So it is a balancing and the court will likely find that the other prongs outweigh these two, largely for the reasons stated toward the end of the Professor’s post.
Did Hunter ever spend time on Jeffrey Epstein’s Pedophile Isle?
That may have been one of Hunter’s more wholesome activities. He’s one sick puppy.
Did hunter ever spend time on Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophilia island?
My inner proof reader says:
“cache” should be “cachet”
“(despite the efforts of the Biden)” should be “(. . . the Biden clan)”
“this bravery” should be “his bravery”
“Hallie Biden, widow of the deceased brother (with whom Hunter later had a romantic relationship)” should be “Hallie Biden (with whom Hunter later had a romantic relationship), widow of the deceased brother”
“the rivaling the surnames” should be “the rivaling surnames”
Was Hunter’s mentor Slick Willie Clinton?
Hunter becomes the hunted.
The Bidens really are scum.
but Hunter is by far the most obnoxious!