Jill Biden on Hunter’s pardon and her husband’s turbulent political end

Former first lady Jill Biden is shedding new light on one of the biggest decisions her husband made as president: to drop out of his own reelection campaign.

In this episode of NPR’s Newsmakers, Biden sits down with host Scott Detrow to discuss her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir. She opens up about the infamous 2024 presidential debate that doomed President Joe Biden’s campaign -- when his performance so concerned those in his inner circle, Biden says her husband was checked by doctors after leaving the stage -- and the personal and political toll of the months that followed.

She also reveals Joe Biden “truly changed his mind” on pardoning their son Hunter, who was convicted on federal gun and tax charges in 2024. She says it was then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Hunter’s criminal cases that eventually led her husband to pardon their son, who faced prison time.

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