Hunter Biden Scolds Fox News for ‘Demonization’ of His Addiction Battles: ‘Vile Disinformation Campaign’

Hunter Biden lashed out over the coverage of his addiction struggles at Murdoch-controlled Fox News and the New York Post in an op/ed column in USA Today on Thursday, arguing that the negative barrage of stories could hurt other addicts trying to recover.

“My experience is not a unique one. At least 20 million Americans today suffer from substance abuse disorder. I don’t know a family that hasn’t been impacted in some way by addiction,” the 53-year-old Biden wrote. “What is distinct about my situation is that I’m the son of the president of the United States.”

“My struggles and my mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained disinformation campaign against him, and an all-out annihilation of my reputation,” he said.

“I am not a victim. By any standard, I grew up with privilege and opportunity, and fully accept that the choices and mistakes I made are mine, and I am accountable for them and will continue to be,” he continued. “That is what recovery is about.”

But he said the way his addiction has been portrayed could hurt others who need help.

“What troubles me is the demonization of addiction, of human frailty, using me as its avatar and the devastating consequences it has for the millions struggling with addiction, desperate for a way out and being bombarded by the denigrating and near-constant coverage of me and my addiction on Fox News (more airtime than GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis) and in The New York Post (an average of two stories a day over the past year).

Biden said that his addiction doesn’t justify the use of altered nude photos “edited with creativity” by podcast host and former Trump White House advisor Steven Bannon, or the efforts of Rudy Guiliani, who with Bannon revealed the existence of Biden’s errant laptop, “to debase and dehumanize me for their own gains.”

The column was published as Fox Corp. reported just a 2% rise in revenue for the third quarter compared with the same period last year, results that included a 3% drop in advertising revenue on the company’s cable networks, which include Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports.

“It is already a near-impossible decision for addicts to get sober, and the avalanche of negativity and assault of my personal privacy may only make it harder for those considering it,” Biden wrote. “The science of addiction and recovery has made great strides in just the past decade. However, far too few will ever experience the miracle of recovery unless we change the stigma around addiction.”

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