Asked about the depths of his addiction, he described drinking almost a gallon of vodka a day while smoking crack cocaine almost every 15 minutes at its worst.
“It was hell on earth,” he said. “There’s nothing glamorous about it.”
Reflecting on why he turned to drugs and alcohol, Hunter Biden rejected the suggestion that he felt untouchable because he was the son of a president.
“I wasn’t reaching for anything except oblivion,” he said. He noted that his addiction was a way to escape feelings of anxiety and isolation.
The drugs and alcohol initially felt like a solution before becoming “the thing that almost killed me”, he noted.
Hunter Biden got emotional at times in the interview, notably when discussing his father’s health.
Cancer is really hard,” he said, stopping to clear his throat. “It’s really sad to watch.”
He revealed that the “cancer has spread, metastasised into his bones and further. It’s very painful” and “very debilitating”.
“My dad is, to this day, the centre of our family,” he said. “He’s the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather.”
“The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more.”
Hunter Biden also reflected on the presidential debate in June 2024 that ultimately ended his father’s re-election campaign. He said he had watched it from his home in California and immediately sensed something was wrong.
“I was shocked,” he said. “I knew something was wrong.”