President Joe Biden lastly acknowledged his 4-year-old granddaughter Navy Joan Roberts on Friday, saying that he helps “what’s finest” for his son Hunter’s baby with Lunden Roberts.

Biden, 80, has typically claimed he has solely six grandchildren and the White Home has excluded the daughter of Hunter and Lunden Roberts from Christmas celebrations.

“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mom, Lunden, are working collectively to foster a relationship that’s in the most effective pursuits of their daughter, preserving her privateness as a lot as attainable going ahead,” the 80-year-old President mentioned in a press release to Folks journal late Friday afternoon.

“This isn’t a political difficulty, it’s a household matter,” Biden mentioned.

“Jill and I solely need what’s finest for all of our grandchildren, together with Navy.”

The forty sixth US President didn’t say if he plans to ask his granddaughter to the White Home or meet her in particular person.

Biden has confronted rising backlash for ignoring Navy Joan, which contradicts his picture as a loving grandfather-in-chief.

“I’ve six grandchildren,” Biden mentioned at a White Home occasion for kids in April.

“I’m loopy about them and I communicate to them each single day.”

Neither Hunter nor Joe Biden have met Navy Joan, however she reportedly is aware of about them and talks about them.

The assertion got here as Biden visited Maine earlier than heading to his trip house in Rehoboth Seashore, Del.– the place he’s anticipated to spend 9 days after avoiding reporter questions for greater than every week, together with questions in regards to the collapse of son Hunter’s plea deal Wednesday and Home Republicans proposing an impeachment inquiry into Biden’s function in shady international offers.

The president, who’s operating for re-election subsequent 12 months, had no public occasions on Monday or on Wednesday and final answered a reporter’s query on July 18, when he gave a two-word reply within the Oval Workplace that wasn’t clear to journalists.

Hunter Biden, 53, was confirmed to be Roberts’ father by a 2019 DNA check, however the first son fought in court docket to stop her from taking his final title.

The president’s snub of Roberts was intentional, in response to a profile by the New York Instances this month.

ALSO READ| Massive Republican donors say goodbye to DeSantis, set their sights on Glenn Youngkin for 2024 presidential run. This is why

“In technique conferences lately, aides have been advised that the Bidens have six, not seven, grandchildren, in response to two individuals aware of the discussions,” the Instances reported.

Instances columnist Maureen Dowd wrote in a well-liked July 8 column that “[w]hat the Navy story reveals is how dated and inauthentic the 80-year-old president’s view of household is.”

“The president’s chilly shoulder — and coronary heart — is counter to each message he has despatched for many years, and it’s out of sync with the America he needs to proceed to steer,” Dowd wrote. The primary son in Could flew to Arkansas on a personal jet to say he was poor to scale back his baby help funds — convincing his daughter’s mom to simply accept $5,000 monthly as an alternative of $20,000 and to drop her request to vary Navy Joan’s surname — in alternate for revenue from some gross sales of Hunter’s beginner artworks.

The personal jet belonged to Hunter’s good friend, Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who additionally paid off about $2 million in tax debt for Hunter after assembly him at a December 2019 fundraiser.

President Biden didn’t point out his change of coronary heart on Navy Joan throughout his speech in Maine, the place he attacked his Republican opponents for his or her allegedly impolite conduct.

Biden mocked former President Donald Trump as a “elegant man” for skipping his 2021 inauguration — including, “I used to be simply as comfortable he didn’t” — after which ridiculed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whom he known as “the gentlewoman in Georgia — discuss an oxymoron.”

ALSO READ| Does US govt possess alien autos? 5 stunning UFO claims US Cong mentioned

The president additionally tried to show a extra mild aspect, saying to his viewers, “To all the children right here, I’m going to offer you some money after this occasion to offer to your mother and father to take you to Dairy Queen after this.”

It’s not recognized if he stored his phrase or not.