Hunter Biden said “may have to” enter the 2028 presidential race in an interview Sunday, a notable shift from his previous dismissals of the idea.Speaking with radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable,” Biden was asked whether he had considered a White House bid. “If I get your endorsement, I may have to,” he told Catsimatidis, a billionaire grocery chain owner and ally of President Donald Trump. Biden added that his central concern would be the roughly 50 million Americans he said are still struggling with addiction.Asked what would qualify him for office, Biden pointed to the Constitution rather than his own resume. “He is my qualification for becoming president, if you believe in the Constitution of the United States of America that you swear to uphold and protect,” he said, adding that he wants the next president “to commit to one thing: adhering to the rule of law.”The comment sits awkwardly alongside Biden’s own legal history; his father granted him a full and unconditional pardon in December 2024, wiping away federal convictions on gun and tax charges before he could be sentenced.The remark also stands in contrast to comments Biden made in August during an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” where he waved off the idea of running and joked that anyone hearing he’d announced a campaign should “check and see if I relapsed.”In the Catsimatidis interview, Biden stopped short of declaring a campaign and instead praised the depth of the Democratic field, name-dropping Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) before saying, “I love Gavin Newsom, personally.” Newsom, who has acknowledged eying a run after this year’s midterms, has separately polled ahead of both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in hypothetical general election matchups, according to an August Emerson College/The Hill survey. Other Democrats frequently mentioned as potential 2028 contenders include Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.Any Biden candidacy would almost assuredly draw renewed scrutiny of his colorful personal and legal history. He was convicted in 2024 on federal gun charges tied to a 2018 firearm purchase, during which he falsely denied drug use, and separately pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. His father’s sweeping, unconditional pardon in 2024 covered any such conduct dating back a decade.Biden has spoken candidly about his addiction struggles, including in his 2021 memoir, and said in the interview that he recently marked seven and a half years of sobriety.
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