When Trump Went After Hunter Biden For His Addiction, He Went After Me Too
I was among the 73 million people who watched Tuesday night’s debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. It was a debate, I might add, that had all the decorum of a “Real Housewives” reunion show (no shade to all you Real Housewives out there).
As a Black woman, I was stunned and demoralised by Trump’s refusal to denounce white supremacists. But when Biden brought up his late son Beau’s military record and Trump countered by attacking Biden’s other son, Hunter, saying he was thrown out of the military for cocaine use, I had to get up and walk away from the television. Ouch.
I circled back, though, when I heard the tone of Biden’s swift, loving response.
“My son, my son, my son ― like a lot of people you know at home ― had a drug problem. He’s overtaken it, he’s fixed it, he’s worked on it, and I’m proud of him. I’m proud of my son.”
Thank you, Joe.
Even the Real Housewives know that kids are always off-limits. Around 20 million Americans ages 12 and older have a substance abuse disorder, according to a 2019 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. When Trump took a shot at Biden’s son on this prime-time stage, he was also firing off at them and at the tens of thousands of family members who have an addict in their lives.
With roughly 70,000 people dying per year from accidental overdoses and with alcohol use skyrocketing during the pandemic, it feels wildly callous and irresponsible for our president to “go in” on people who are struggling with a disease formally recognised by the American Medical Association.
On April 22, 1978, then-first lady of the United States Betty Ford bravely announced to the world that she was addicted to prescription medication and alcohol. Later on, she famously created the gold standard in treatment centres, the Betty Ford Center. And up until her death at age 93, she worked tirelessly to remove the stigma that many people associate...
