Hunter Biden Claims His Dad Joe Biden Was Given Ambien Before 2024 Debate

Exactly one year after Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election, his son Hunter Biden is offering his thoughts on the disastrous debate performance that set the decision in motion.

In a three-hour interview with YouTube personality Andrew Callaghan released on Monday, July 21, Hunter got candid about his personal struggles with addiction, his thoughts on the state of the Democratic Party as a whole, and his father’s failed reelection attempt last year.

While there had previously been concern about Joe’s viability for another presidential term when he announced his plan to seek reelection at age 81, many saw the debate in Atlanta on June 27, 2024, as the final nail in the coffin for his campaign.

During his one-and-only debate against Donald Trump, the Democratic incumbent spoke slowly, struggled to keep up with Trump’s misdirects and appeared to have trouble collecting his thoughts. His supporters struggled to spin the performance afterwards, and it was largely hailed as a victory for Trump.

Joe attempted to salvage the performance at a rally the following evening, telling the crowd, “I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know, I know how to tell the truth!”

The president also told reporters that jet lag was to blame for his weak performance, saying he “nearly fell asleep on stage” because he “didn’t listen” to his staff’s advice for rest after two European trips in the weeks before the debate — though The New York Times cited sources who claimed that Biden was given ample time to sleep in and take naps during his six days of debate prep in Camp David.

Now, Hunter is adding more context to the story, alleging that his father’s debate performance may have also involved a prescription drug reaction.

“I know exactly what happened in that debate,” Hunter, 55, claimed. “He flew around the world, the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times. He’s 81 years old. He’s tired as s—. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep, he gets up on the stage and looks like a deer in the headlights.”

A representative for President Biden declined PEOPLE’s request for comment about Hunter’s Ambien remark.

Less than a month after the debate, and following much resistance, Joe announced he was withdrawing from the race, rallying his support behind then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who ultimately topped the Democratic ticket alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Harris and Walz were defeated by Trump and JD Vance, losing the Electoral College 312-226 and the popular vote by more than 2 million votes.

Some critics have continued to chalk up Trump’s victory to the chaos that played out on the Democratic ticket just a few months before the election.

In his new interview with Andrew Callaghan, Hunter offered a particularly scathing takedown of George Clooney, who famously penned an op-ed for The New York Times in July 2024 that publicly urged Biden to drop out of the race.

“F— him and everybody around him. I don’t have to be f—— nice,” the former first son said. “George Clooney is not an actor. He’s a… I don’t know what he is. He’s a brand.”

“F— you,” Hunter continued, as if speaking to Clooney directly. “What do you have to do with anything? Why do I have to listen to you? What right do you have to step on a man who’s given 52 years of his f—— life to the service of his country and decide that you, George Clooney, are gonna take out basically a full-page ad in The New York Times… and replace their judgment over his?”

Hunter also slammed other Democratic signatories to Clooney’s op-ed, including James Carville, Anita Bryant, “the Pod Save America guys,” David Axelrod and more.

“David Axelrod had one success in his political life, and that was Barack Obama, and that was because of Barack Obama,” Hunter said of Obama’s trusted adviser and campaign strategist.

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As for a mention of CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who recently released his latest book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, Hunter scoffed.

“What influence does Jake Tapper have over anything? He has the smallest audience on cable news,” he said.