Hunter Biden blamed the sleeping pill Ambien for then-President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last year. Theyounger Bidenmade the remarks in an expletive-laden interview on YouTube's "Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan" that was released Monday, the first anniversary of his father'sdecision to drop outof the presidential race. "I know exactly what happened in that debate. He flew around the world, basically 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's gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights," Hunter Biden said in the interview. "And it feeds into every f---ing story that anybody wants to tell." The former president's office declined to comment. The elder Biden hadblamed exhaustionfor his debate performance, but did not mention any sleeping aid. "I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate," he said at a campaign fundraiser in McLean, Virginia, days after the debate. "I didn't listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep onstage," he quipped. In the weeks before the debate, Bidenwent to Franceto commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and then returned to the U.S. before he departed forthe Group of SevenSummitin Italy. He then attended aLos Angeles fundraiseron June 15 — 12 days before the debate. He also spent several days at Camp David, Maryland, preparing for his showdown with Trump. Aides had also blamed Biden's debate performance on a cold. In the same Channel 5 interview, Hunter Biden rebuked several prominent Democrats who had called for his father to drop out of the race following the debate — includingactor George Clooney. "F--- him and f--- everyone around him," Biden said. He also denied that he was responsible fora bag ofcocainethat was discovered in a highly trafficked part of the West Wing in 2023. In May,Deputy FBI Director Dan Bonginoannounced the bureau was reopening the probe into the discovery. Trump suggested in an interview earlier this year that "either Hunter or Joe" was responsible. "They've convinced themselves it had to be me," the younger Biden,who has spoken extensivelyabout his drug addiction and struggles to get sober, told Callaghan. "I have been clean and sober since June of 2019, and I have not touched a drop of alcohol or a drug and I'm incredibly, incredibly proud of that," he added.
