Biden talks about son’s struggles with mental illness, substance abuse

Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke candidly about his son Hunter Biden’s struggles with addiction and mental illness in a Monday evening CNN interview alongside his wife Jill Biden.

“Beau is my soul, Hunter is my heart,” Joe Biden said, referencing his eldest son, who died of cancer in 2015. “And Hunter’s been through some tough times, but he’s fighting, he’s never given up. He’s the most honorable, decent person I know.”

“He’s going to beat this… Hunter’s been through some tough times, but he’s fighting, he’s fighting… he’s the most honorable, decent person I know,” presidential candidate Joe Biden says about his son Hunter’s struggles with alcohol and drug abuse. https://t.co/8rh5xH1yrc pic.twitter.com/NZZ2oMYBMM

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) July 9, 2019

{mosads}Host Chris Cuomo brought Hunter Biden up in the context of a recent New Yorker piece that detailed his problems with substance abuse, with Joe Biden telling Cuomo that Hunter’s participation in the profile “took enormous courage.”

“Everybody has to deal with these issues in a way that’s consistent with who they are and what they are,” Joe Biden said. “The idea that we treat mental health and physical health as though somehow they’re distinct – it’s health.”

Joe Biden added that, when the White House was developing the Affordable Care Act, “parity between mental health and physical health” was “a fundamental breakthrough in how things should work.”

“We’ve seen his struggle and we know most American families are dealing with some sort of struggle like we are, and I think they can relate to us as parents who are hopeful and are supportive of our son,” Jill Biden said.